How many people may have expressed lately, that they feel like the world, as they know it has changed?
When we feel like our world has been turned upside-down, it’s our inner strength that keeps us holding on.
Some of us may ask, ‘where is that strength hiding?’
Some of us may not feel strong at all. Some of us may embrace what’s new.
Either way, we have more endurance than we may think even when our “normal” doesn’t seem “normal” anymore.
What is normal anyway? Is it the same for everyone? Why does it matter?
A usual weekday might have meant sitting in traffic for most, whether headed to work or being taken to school. For others, a regular day may have been traveling around town running errands at various shops to pick up necessities.
Now a usual day for many may be logging in to an online office or classroom. For others, it may mean logging on to various online shops to order groceries and supplies.
Many say they can’t wait for things to go back to normal. Change happens every day in some form or another, so how do we know what normal is?
Last year, was your ‘normal’ the same as the year before? What might have been different? What was significant about the change? Which parts of the difference might have been beneficial?
Recently, I spoke with a close family friend who shared her new ‘normal’ story with me. Last year, around this time she and her husband were actively enjoying retirement as seniors traveling, dining out, and visiting friends and family. For them, every day was a special occasion. They have been married 65+ years and have always done everything together. Unexpectedly and recently, her husband took ill (not virus related) and was taken to the hospital. They had been forced to be significantly less active over the past 6+ months but that was nothing compared to being separated from each other for the past few weeks after a lifetime of being side-by-side. Their world was turned upside-down and their inner strength is keeping them going. They speak to each other multiple times a day. He has interaction with others at the hospital and she is actively keeping herself busy with home projects, visits with family and friends, and a complete support system while she waits for her husband to come home. Whether they get to return to the previous ‘normal’ or experience a new ‘normal’, what matters most to them is to be together because everything else will work out. Their inner strength keeps them holding on to this upside-down world.
So, what can we take away from this strong couple and their story?
What is normal? Could normal be what we chose it to be? How might we be able to find what can be normal in the seemingly obscure?
Scheduling “ME” time may have felt obscure in what used to feel normal and now may feel even less possible.
How can NOW be the best time to take great care of ourselves?
How might planning just a little “ME” time nudge our inner strength to the surface to help us hold on as things change? What might be important about this?
Today is “ME” Monday®. It is an official day on the calendar to arrange something special for yourself, no matter how small. Creating a “ME” Monday® routine might be a wonderful new normal to discover! # ME-Monday
Be safe. Be healthy. Be self-responsible. Be POWERFUL!
Lynn Lessell CHC, CLC, FBS, TCM
The Identity Coach
Certified in Health & Life Transformation
Have questions? Let’s have a quick chat!
PH: 561-717-3090
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