I Am Not Meant to Suffer Alone

I am willing to be part of the collective, to embrace help when it is offered, and to receive love when it is shared. I am a part of a village of support that extends far beyond my comprehension. I am not meant to suffer alone. I was built for love.

It’s a crazy world. Pandemic, stress, trauma, fear, worry…and by now we are all tired and bogged down with the weight of the impact that COVID has had on our lives and livelihoods. We have all experienced loneliness, isolation and maybe even judgement as we compare how we are coping to how others are coping. But surviving a pandemic isn’t a competition, we are all just finding our own way through it.

We’ve heard it said that “we are in this together.” Yes, indeed we are all going through it, struggling to keep our heads above water, we are all affected by the decisions made by the Government and Health Officials in different ways but affected no less. But the deeper part of that statement is that each and every one of us feel all the things that Covid has brought us. We are more alike than we are different. We all feel the fear, the worry, the longing to travel again, the frustration, the anger, the injustice, the stress, the isolation, the judgement…and the list goes on. If nothing else, we have been on a severe roller coaster of emotions for the last 15 months – and we want off!

What if we were to start shifting our focus from the things we can’t do, to the things we can? What if we embrace the abundance of intimate moments we have with loved ones? What if we dream and plan with our friends and family for a future where we thrive? What if we checked in with one another in compassion, friendship and love? What if we smile under our masks, wave to neighbours, support our food banks and local businesses? What if we find new creative ways to have fun and make memories? Many of us are already doing these things and still find ourselves bogged down and depressed. Here’s a secret: what we focus on grows. If we focus on the unhappy we will find more of it – and we end up suffering. If we focus on the love, support and calm that we can cultivate in our own space we will find more of it – and end up thriving. We CHOOSE where our focus goes.

We truly are coming through this together, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Now is not the time to suffer alone, we must lean into each other, support where we can, serve where we can, listen where we can, and love hard. We were not built to live a life of stress. We were built for love. And we will find that to be true, if only we look around.

#findingthewellinwellness

Xo Juli