In our neighbourhood, kids are back to school, and some activities are opening up. But it’s not “Normal”.
Have you been hoping, waiting, anticipating for things to get “Back to Normal”? This is the major source of stress. There IS a LOT of stress – and asking “When will things return to Normal?” increases that stress.
Rather than longing for “Normal”, try focusing on “Typical”. Trying to fit what is “Typical” this week into what was “Normal” last September, or pre-COVID, is crazy-making, and causes a LOT of stress. It puts you into REACT mode instead of RESPOND.
The world has changed. The reality is the world is always changing, however we had a big shift in the last 6 months, and collectively we are stressed trying to get our heads wrapped around all the changes.
It feels good to see kids in the playground at the schoolyard – that’s now typical. Remembering to take my mask with me everywhere is now typical. Spending more time at home – typical. By focusing on what is typical for you these days, you can reduce the angst and anxiety for yourself that seems to be prevalent everywhere around you. When I felt frustrated about my mask, I told myself I wasn’t being asked to carry a gun – which was what my father was asked to do. I shifted “Mask” to typical.
There’s always more than one perspective, and you get to decide what that perspective is supportive for you.
Victor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning (1946) has provided a foundational touchstone for me during the past 6 months. Frankl, a psychiatrist in Vienna prior to World War II, spent most of the war in several Jewish concentration camps. After surviving one of the most horrendous experiences we can imagine, he wrote his groundbreaking book providing a basis for modern psychology.
Here’s two quotes from his work that have held me steady:
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
And
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
What are your typical responses these days? How’s your attitude? I hope you are filled with possibility, kindness, and positivity. I trust you are maintaining your ability to show up as the best version of you, even with the uncertainty and fear around you.
If you’re having challenges staying true to yourself, and noticing that you’re reacting in ways you don’t feel like you, know that myself and all of the Practitioners I have trained in Belief Re-patterning are here to support you in finding what’s typical for you.
Together, let’s make sure we are BEing our typical selves, in alignment with who we really are.
There lies our growth and our freedom.
Namaste,