No doubt it has been a wild ride the last few years and no doubt you’ve had a million up and downs that closely resemble the highs and lows of the times we’re living in. It’s so easy to get swept up in all the chaos and swept away from a grounded sense of ourselves. Depressing headlines, unhinged behaviors, and downright nastiness are all pervasive at this time and it can really derail any good feelings that might want to spontaneously crop up. Which is why I just wanted to pop in and say, don’t let the crazy times extinguish your beautiful inner light, the truth of yourself that still wants to shine, even when it’s raining catastrophes.
It’s easy to second guess or completely forget the subtle mysteries that form the basis of who we are. But the more precarious the times get, and the pricklier people get, is not the time to abandon our truth and beauty, it’s the time to seek it out and own even more of it. Letting misery overwhelm our lives does not lighten the load for anyone, not ourselves, not our family, not our communities, and not the world. It is important to stay grounded in what’s good, what inspires, and what brings some peace and calm before we venture out into the world. It’s easy to sink down and stay down during times of enormous stress and injustice, it’s much trickier to find a sliver of light and let it break open inside of us. But that is exactly the light all of us, and the world, need right now.
It doesn’t have to be yet another complicated project. Just begin paying attention to what matters to you and then start surrounding yourself with what you love and what makes you happy as often as possible. All the small things will begin to add up. Start with buying yourself flowers, care for a plant, (there is magic in watching something grow), listen to the words of people you admire, search out some news that nurtures your soul, feed your body well, get enough sleep, read a book, go out into nature. All of these, and many more, are the simple things we can do to keep ourselves grounded in our day-to-day lives. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate undertaking, just look for those things that smooth the rough edges and fill you with some hope.
You can jumpstart it by creating little routines of happiness throughout your day. I get up in the morning to do my little trifecta of joy, stepping out on the deck in the early morning with my tea and gratitude, some dance, and then yoga while listening to some wise words. This sets the tone of my day and grounds me into the good. Once you start in the direction of your yes, what uplifts you gets easier to find. Let what inspires you be the foundation you build your life upon, especially during these unsettling times. Don’t get bogged down in what you can’t fix. Spending all our time wallowing in what’s wrong or not working out doesn’t change anything, it only makes us miserable.
Begin by making some choices that help you step away from overwhelm. It’s not about hiding from the reality of the world, it is about sustaining and nurturing ourselves through conflicts and difficulties so we can then be a viable part of the solution.
Look for some good, ground into hope, and begin living from there.
kb
