I believe it is a fine time for us all to sit down on our embroidered cushions and have a bit of a pow-wow. Light some candles, take a deep breath, center ourselves, ground our psyches, etc etc etc.
It is a mystery, how we, as humans, continue to subject ourselves to the things that rob us of our joy, contentment, and peace. It isn't like we are ignorant to how these things present themselves or where they come from, right? Comparison, feeding into the vast distraction that is social media, stress, resentment, just to name a few.
However and whenever darkness falls around our lives, it is ESSENTIAL that you understand how to battle that darkness from within yourself. It is so much less about your surroundings, and more about which shelf you reach for in the library of perspectives within your mind.
Hopefully this comes off as encouraging for whoever is reading these words, but you are 100% in control of which perspective is your filter.
I would not hop up onto a top shelf in the Jonesboro Public Library and invest my time in a novel about vampires if I needed a resource for business strategy.
It is what we do though!!!!
And that's about how much sense it makes. Truly. "I need ingredients to make fruit salad!" *buys pasta, toothpaste, and a plunger*
WE HAVE GOT TO STOP BUYING PASTA FOR OUR FRUIT SALADS, PEOPLE.
Two weeks ago, when this virus prominently started showing its tail and making its way downtown... walking fast... faces pass and it's home-bound...
I had a fantastic little panic attack.
What-ifing myself into a stroke. What if it dominates Jonesboro and I contract it? Will my sugars hold up? Can I fight it off? Is that 40% mortality rate of diabetics with COVID-19 true? Am I washing enough? Cleaning enough? Praying enough? Sanitizing enough?
The stress was legitimately going to kill me. A stress bound body is so much less likely to fight off viruses. Stress can actually trigger inflammation. It will ruin you. It is like a fire burning hot inside your mind, where good/authentic emotions and responses are scorched and turned to ash.
In this very moment, I want you to close your eyes. Drop your shoulders. Stretch your arms upward as you inhale as deeply as you can. While your breath is inside your lungs, gather the worries, stresses, and the outcomes that are entirely out of your control inside that breath.
And EXHALE THEM.
You can only do what you can do. Whether a pandemic was on the rise in our country or not, my guess is that there would still be SOMETHING yanking the puppet strings of your soul and depicting your entire attitude about this life. There would be some destructive bomb of inconvenience, pain, or disappointment that you would focus in on. You would be chewing on it like old gum 'til it made your jaws sore and triggered a god-awful headache. It's time to stop giving it your time.
It's a bad season, not a bad life. Okay?
It's about my response, not my circumstances.
If I have learned anything from this (because that's what this should be; a very valuable lesson) it is that the things we give so so so much of our energy to, oftentimes do not give it back. Worry and obsession with control are not profitable investments, understand? You will NEVER land in the red from pouring yourself into good, wholesome, soul-loving things.
Make these moments count with your kids and your family. Make it something they will share with their husbands/wives/kids/grandkids some day. Can you imagine?
Picture this. It's the night of your kids' first snow day of the school year. You've played in the powdery dreamy mess all day. You've had dinner. Hot chocolates in hand, and sticky marshmallow faces. Fireplace crackling it's own little tune behind you.
"Okay, okay. I'll tell the story! Back in 2020, my parents were staring a very strong, angry giant known as COVID-19. It blazed all over the world and took jobs, and even lives! We were all confined to our house for two whole weeks! But we spent hours playing monopoly, watched an old movie called 'Finding Nemo'" *the kids side eye each other, confused* "and we even memorized each others' birthdays and made plans for the following year. We laughed more than we breathed."
A bad season, not a bad life.
We love you all, and wish you so much peace and good outcomes for you and yours.
- Emerald's Triangle LLC.