Where Am I? What Am I Doing? What’s My Purpose? Am I Ever Going to Get There? Questions as we try to navigate this confusing time, especially now. Life has seemed to come to a screeching halt for some, while others of us are sped up in fear and anxiety. Wherever you are during this period of time, what is true is you didn’t expect to end up here. Nobody predicted this. And while we long for life to go back to the way it was, there isn’t a way back and we are unsure of the way forward.
Waiting is hard, not knowing is even harder. Some of us are able to distract ourselves with Netflix binging, household projects, exercise, cooking, social media, trips to the fridge and gaming to name a few. And although these things are neither good nor bad in and of themselves, there is still this sense of can I get away from this uncomfortableness?
Some of us go into overdrive trying to analyze and figure. How long will we be shut down? How many people will die? When did it start? When will it end? We try to make sense of what is going on by watching the news, and reading statistics. And really this just leads us to more figuring.
Addiction is on the rise, mental health crisis hotlines have seen a dramatic increase in calls, and suicides are climbing. Fear and anxiety seem to be spinning us out of control.
So what do we do?
- Identify – What is going on underneath the surface without judgment. “I’m afraid”—or what some may recognize at this point as anxiety. Speaking the truth of what is happening on your insides will automatically help.
When you fight against the truth of what you feel or place judgement on yourself for “not handing the situation well” you move directly from the truth of your insides into a place of toxic shame. In toxic shame you have now labeled yourself as “there is something wrong with me”.
These are uncertain times, it is normal to have fear.
- Explore – What am I afraid of? This can be a number of things. “I am afraid of getting sick.” “I am afraid of losing my job.” Dig deeper for the more meaningful questions. What does it mean if you lose your job? “We will struggle financially.” What happens if you struggle financially?
As you dig you will find a deeper more meaningful story. Has there been another time in your life that you struggled financially? What happened then?
When you follow that path you will find what you are really afraid of, or what’s really causing your anxiety.
3. Express – Knowing your deeper story will now allow you to show up in truth and invite others to live in deeper relationship with you. Express the truth of your insides with people who are not going to try and fix you and are willing to show up and do the same. Living vulnerably and fully.
Be Sent Life Restoration is a 501(c)3 providing life restoration services on a sliding fee scale. If you or someone you know have questions or are interested in these services you make contact us here.