How To Find Happiness During Chaos
A Breakthrough Perspective During COVID-19
There is certainly something strange going on in the world right now and there seems to be a paradigm shift happening. With the anxiety and fear based thinking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, I couldn't help but find myself deep in thought about how to find the positive, or at least find a lesson to be learned, about what is going on in our world right now.
Since I certainly cannot write more elegantly or introspectively, I have to share these words (and I apologize because I cannot find the original author). But it deeply resonated with me and this is the perspective I choose to have about the current situation.
“WHAT IF….”
What if we subscribe to the philosophy that life is always working FOR us, that there is an intelligence far greater than humans at work…
That is all interconnected.
WHAT IF…
The virus is here to help us?
To reset.
To remember, what is truly important.
Reconnecting with friends and family and community.
Reducing travel so that the environment, the skies, the air and our lungs all get a break.
Parts of China are seeing blue sky and clouds for the first time in forever with the factories being shut down.
Working from home, rather than commuting to work means less pollution and more personal time.
Reconnecting with family as there is more time at home.
An invitation to turn inwards - a deep meditation - rather than the usual extroverted going out to self soothe.
To reconnect with self - what is really important to me?
A reset economically.
The working poor. The lack of healthcare access for over 30 million people in the U.S. The need for paid sick leave.
How hard does one need to work to be able to live, to have a life outside of work?
And, washing our hands - how did that become a new thing that we needed to remember? But yes, we did.
The presence of Grace for us all.
There is a shift underway in our society - what if it is one that is favorable for all of us?
What if this virus is an ally in our evolution?
In our remembrance of what it means to be connected, humane, living a simpler life, to leave less of a footprint and be more kind to our environment.
An offering from my heart this morning. Offered as another perspective. Another way of relating to this virus, this unfolding, this evolution.
It was time for a change, we all knew that.
And, change has arrived.
WHAT IF…. “
Again, I can not take credit for these words, but instead of choosing fear and sadness over something I have no control over, today I am choosing to trust in the knowings of the universe and favor acceptance over resistance, love over hate, and connection above division. Of course, I believe in the severity of this virus and am not minimizing the impact it is having. I am also taking every necessary precaution to flatten the curve of this horrific disease spreading, but all I can control is my mind so I am sharing a different perspective. Choose love.
Thoughts are energy. Negative thoughts breed negativity and positive thoughts breed positivity. I choose positive. Not naive. Positive.
Before I chose this viewpoint, the last few weeks I found myself overwhelmed, disconnected, lonely and scared. I am usually super easy going, a true Pisces in that I have a go with with the flow attitude. Lately however, I’ve been short tempered, tired, unfulfilled and if I must be honest, really sad. I quickly get mad at myself for feeling this way because as I look around I have everything I need. As I write this, the world is in a pandemic like we’ve never seen before with the Coronavirus taking us by storm. Schools are cancelled, businesses are shut down, people are losing their jobs (and their minds) left and right. But everyday problems still exist, too. My sister in law found out she has a brain tumor and is on her countdown to surgery in less than 2 weeks. My cousin's apartment building caught on fire and she lost everything she ever owned in a matter of minutes. Perspective is everything. I should be happy.
Saying those words makes me even more sad. I’m an empath by nature so maybe I was just absorbing other people's emotions. Maybe the state of the world is making me so sad. Maybe I just miss my friends because we’ve been “social distancing” for so long. Maybe I'm crappy at homeschooling my kids and it's getting to me. Regardless, do I have any right to feel sad when I have a job, a house and food, a husband that loves me and healthy, happy children at home? It feels confusing.
I referenced Gretchen Rubins' book, The Happiness Project, in my last post, but I hadn’t actually read it in a long time. These down feelings prompted me to dust it off and as I skimmed through it, I landed on the chapter about Happiness Commandments. Gretchen suggests that writing your own personal happiness commandments will assist in making happiness a reality and staying true to what is important to you.
I love participating in a good challenge and since I was feeling so down - I dove in. I also knew I wanted to share it with my readers.
So here it goes,
My 12 Personal Happiness Commandments:
Be authentic
Be kind, not nice
Do what’s right
Enjoy the process
Trust my intuition
Act the way I want to feel
Tell them how you feel
Be present
Smile at strangers
Do the hard things
Learn something new always
Love is the point
I’ll be delving deeper into some of these Commandment in future posts, but these are what resonate with me right now. I’m sure in different seasons and struggles in my life they may change. I’m curious, what are your Personal Commandments?
Let’s unite. Let’s send out positivity. Let’s reconnect with what makes us happy and what we are grateful for. And let’s just see if we can shift our mindsets from COVID-19 as being the worst thing to ever happen in our lifetime, to an opportunity for connection, love, growth and empathy.
