“The hardest thing you can do is smile when you are ill, in pain, or depressed. But this no-cost remedy is a necessary first half-step if you are to start on the road to recovery.”
– Allen Klein
It would take something catastrophic on a global scale to affect the hearts and minds of 7.5 billion people in 200 countries.
Something that would cause panic, fear, a dramatic economic reversal with government interventions, and a dramatic change of life as we know it.
That something is here now.
It is normal to feel sad, grieving, stressed, confused, scared, angry, and a full range of emotions during this global crisis.
It is also easy to have some denial that this pandemic of Covid-19 is a global crisis and that we are not affected.
And yet there are many ways to manage it, change it, acknowledge it, process it, and overcome the emotional challenges of a crisis.
A long time ago I heard a short story that described how we choose, consciously or unconsciously, to respond to any situation.
Two people were standing on a busy street corner and across the street a person accidentally stepped out and was struck by a car. One person panicked and started having an emotional meltdown. The other person responded with a clear purpose to call 911 and help with traffic and providing temporary care for the person who was struck. It was the same situation yet completely different responses from two different people.
How we choose to respond to this crisis consciously is a test of how we respond to life. It might be all over the board. One day or moment we are in full control and can handle anything. Then something happens and we get knocked off of our center of strength. We experience an emotion of sadness or fear, or a combination of difficult feelings.
Different generations may experience this differently. Even though we are all in this together, millenials may experience this differently than Genx-ers or baby boomers.
"Regardless of your age, it’s important that “everyone understands more than ever that these threats are real,.....To that end, you should take your fears and anxieties seriously, .... “Don’t be shamed into thinking that it’s not okay to feel worried,” he says."
reference: The Psychological Reasons Why Gen X May be Taking Covid-19 More Seriously
It's not just about us individually. When we see humanity suffering, a global economic emergency, and our families, communities, and countries in the midst of serious challenges, it is enough to break our heart.
It can break the heart of humanity.
Yet the heart of humanity as a whole may not be breaking. We have survived hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis, mass shootings, other pandemics, and global crises before.
Yet it is almost like this just happened overnight. Within one month the world changed. We are still in shock. Collectively we may are going through a dark night of the soul. It seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
We cannot discount or disregard the pain and anquish that we are feeling along with billions of others in the world.
Our hearts may break but they break open.
It's in that opening that new opportunities for healing and love and compassion can happen as possibilities.
If the heart of humanity is breaking, then it is also opening to a new collective experience and awareness, a new compassion, and a new world.
And we might also cry a waterfall of tears.
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Thank you for these meditations on our current crisis David. Saludos....
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