To Rise Above Adversity – Go Within

If we’re going to rise above these traumatic times, the panic, the anxiety, and the fears we face, we must first go within.

There’s a pandemic, the world is shutting down, economies are grinding to a halt and stock markets are plummeting. Our America so great, a country whose needed to put up walls to keep people out, people who held the belief that their dreams could come true once they arrived across our borders…this country, so great, is now unmasked and seriously lacking. How did we, the land of the free, become so inept?

And in these recent times of turmoil, we clearly see what most people are doing…

Panicking.

Millions of people who don’t know what to do and don’t know how to manage their emotions are glued to social media, watching the climbing numbers of diagnosis and deaths, holding onto with their supply of toilet paper for dear life.

And thank God there are those dear souls, dusting off their sewing machines to make face masks for those in greatest need, compensating for an industrious country that leads the nation in a 2.31 trillion dollar profitable realm of manufacturing, yet cannot provide enough medical supplies to serve its own population. Why is it that in China every person has a facemask in a population of 1,439,323,776, yet in USA, a population of 333,546,000, we cannot even produce enough for our doctors and nurses, our Walmart and Target workers?

I don’t know about you, but for me, watching TV, being on social media and seeing the posts that feed into fear, stifles my ability to rise above it. Just last week, my elderly father, feared he had the covid 19.  As he stayed tuned into the news to assure he knows what to do to protect himself and my mother, his fears and anxiety caused his body to react.  His stomach felt nausea, his breathing appeared difficult (even though he has had this issue for over a year), he had a headache, his typical morning cough caused fear that it might be the virus, and each person who described their symptoms became my father’s worst fears and symptoms as well.

He called the clinic, who asked questions to determine what he should do.  They told him not to come to the clinic as it was not in a position to treat people who had the virus. Instead they recommended that he take an ambulance to the hospital. Fortunately for my father, he refused to leave my mother home alone.  Instead he called me first. I then called the hospital and found out what they would do to assist.  They would put my father in isolation, to wait for his condition to worsen or improve which could be several hours or more.  By not having any test kits available to prove or disprove he had the virus, this would be anyone best guess.  They would not put him in a hospital room with a bed, nor could they give him a respirator even if he needed one as they had none available.

Bottom line, dad would just sit in isolation alone, no family allowed to comfort him.  My mother who has alzheimer’s, would be left at home until I could arrive on the scene, which would be an hour drive for me.  Keeping in mind that my father had a flu shot, recommended by his doctor only weeks before and the symptoms he had were more typical for that virus.  It also infected my mother who got sick herself only days before my father.

After asking my father numerous questions and believing he had a mild case of the flu, I told him to turn off the TV, drink a large glass of water, and try to get a small sandwich in his belly. I suggested he take 3 deep breaths and get some sleep.

Still not trusting his daughters insight, dad waited for the Covid-19 team to call him back, thinking he would still need to drive to the hospital.  Later that evening they finally called and confirmed exactly what I told him.  They concluded he had the flu, and told him to take tylenol. Their advice was exactly as my own, with the exception of my recommending he not take his baby aspirin until he felt better.

Calling my father the next morning, I was relieved to hear he was much better.

Panic, how easy it spreads.  Once it gets into the mind and affects the nervous system and body, it is hard to shake.  Therefore, I highly recommend doing whatever you can to raise your hope, envisioning a better world ahead, where the darkness that plagued us before this pandemic is cleansed somehow.

For me personally, I am letting go of what has held me captive in the past, of my trauma, my heartache, my exhaustive efforts to awaken people to a reality I see, recognizing now that only those that are ready can comprehend what I know, teach, and can transform them. I am letting go of soooo much baggage. I suggest you do too.

When you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, when you care deeply, when you feel that those who should care don’t you face emotional duress. When you wonder why, when you’ve suffered loss, as you fear your future, you decline, you weaken, your energy is draining from your body. I get it. I feel it. It has affected me adversely. I’m confident many of you feel it too.

Yet I will NOT be a victim, I will rise victorious. I will go deep within and seek to heal what is hurting. I will go deep within and seek direction and spiritual protection, to do what I can do from this place of limitation. I will go deep within to understand what I need to let go of what I’ve been holding onto that no longer serves me. This is such a transformational time, of spirit truly working behind the scenes in our universal consciousness.

In this time of pandemic, of nowhere to run, of being forced to stay home, I face the difficulties in life that I have ignored. I admit I was staying busy so that I didn’t have to see them. I now feel them in living color. My emotions are heightened, I cry tears of sadness, so much sadness. It’s as if the sadness of the world has entered my being. It’s so very heavy. I have to sort out this state of being, remembering who I am. I can lose her easily, as I strive to support others and forget myself. Part of remembering myself is recognizing what is mine to deal with and what is not. It is looking at the totality of my experiences and teasing out behaviors from causes. Yes, I, you, us; we all need to own our own shit and fix it. And we need to realize that not all of this shit is ours to own.

When people say “We’re in this together.”, it means you don’t have to figure it all out, or do it alone. Yet we each have to do something. Let’s not lose our compassion, ignore our own needs, be creatively considering how we can help, and keep the faith that better days are ahead.

Right now, mindset is crucial to staying strong.  Maybe these tips can help you: Top 10 Tips for Recreating a Positive Mindset.

Personally I hold onto the belief that even though not everything is good, I can see the good in everything. I can envision a better life for us all on the other side of this season of significant change. I know in time, as I journal, I practice meditation, I pray, I release the woes, and envision the limitless possibilities, the world will align with our ability to transcend these circumstances and create what we envision.

Be well! Love You All!!!

Lori XO