I can hear helicopters circling around outside as I’m writing this. There’s a protest that’s happening outside and visible for everyone to see on the news.
There’s so many reasons to feel like the world can be ending and the sky is falling. It can feel like we’re amidst chaos or a war, and we need to survive.
But it doesn’t have to for you.
Whatever is happening (or not going on) in your life, strive to put one foot in front of the other.
When I was younger, the Red Hot Chili Peppers was a popular band that rose in the grunge movement that was popular in the early 90’s. The grunge era expressed the end of the late 80’s happy-go-lucky, economy soaring, Reagan era days.
Those years, I was still sheltered in college but I saw how chaos could easily break out in the blink of an eye. Just a few miles from me, the up-and-coming Red Hot Chili Peppers band came to play, that attracted a crowd from around the country who had similar resemblances to the casual crowd that attended Woodstock.
The difference was, some attendees were not at all peaceful and definitely didn’t fit the town’s people. Some were out to let their ego run wild, and that meant people could be hurt in violence, as I witnessed people occasionally get carried out by stretchers into first aid emergency tents.
I imagine this type of scene is nothing compared to a war zone situation where life and death is the ongoing norm. But in this small town that day, this was the out of control situation that brought in more law enforcement after panic broke out.
When you’re younger you don’t feel the impact of what didn’t happen to you that could’ve been life altering. As an adult, you think of all those situations, plus empathize with others who were impacted. In your responsibility, you can feel lost or depressed, as is the case with people today.
In efforts to help keep your spirits up, here are a few areas that can help you find your way up this season:
Find Yourself
Find your place of calm. Your activities matter. If you need to calm anxiety, find your deep breath. Keep practicing and re-defining ways to relax and keep stress levels low as a priority.
Now is a good time to prioritize and see if what you have been believing is working for you. Because you can find peace in chaos if you know where to look. Remember, faith is believing even when you can’t see.
If you need greater happiness, find the natural activity that you can do giving you momentary joy without fail. That lifts your spirits and when you do that activity, the feeling lasts for the day.
If you need to feel purpose and meaning in this great big, wide world, then start producing consistently. Find a medium that highlights your strengths. If you love writing, write and self-publish. If you like to sing or dance, produce videos with your entertainment skills that your friends will love.
If you have a voice and something to say, then start a podcast. Use your talents you’re given. And share them as gifts to the world. Show up imperfect, but as your best you can be now. There’s plenty of room for you. No one can do you, except you!
Find Your People Groups
If you don’t feel you’re talented (or think you have any friends), think of one person you could impact who is different from you. What makes you different from that person? Those things are what make you special. And just like in a relationship, one person (and maybe others) need a little piece of what you have to offer.
There’s a community out there who are your friends, supporters, and fans. You don’t have to be the leader to make impact, if that puts pressure on you.
You have the opportunity to captivate more of an audience than ever in how you show up. If you have something unique and helpful to offer, there’s an audience who wants to hear from and know you. Smaller, engaged ones can be the most impactful, so don’t be intimidated by numbers.
I belonged to a small but mighty group like this description above where we poured into each others’ lives.
The group was no more than ten women at any one season, and as the group grew and evolved. We had diverse cultural backgrounds, growing up in different locations. We also came from different walks of life with titles including physicians, teachers, technologists, and corporate workers.
We were friends who knew about each others’ lives and our struggles. Relationship building and fellowship was the main reason for our regular gatherings and meetups.
These days virtual group gatherings are called “pods” or mastermind groups. And whatever you want to call them, they serve a purpose, to connect and find meaning in your life now that can make the biggest impact.
Back then we didn’t have virtual conferencing like today. If you have an engaged group, this can give you a purpose for the day and as you look forward to the week.
Find Your Daily Joy
Through daily chaos, you have a chance to revert to simpler times. When you were a kid, you were happy if you were smiling, laughing, and enjoying yourself. You lived for pleasure and fun. Planning wasn’t on your daily agenda. Parts of your life was planned, the rest was playing care-free. Take some time to play and get into your less serious mindset. Take a break from working harder that once worked, and try new things.
That’s not easy to swallow, if you don’t know where your next paycheck will come from or what you will do next. But worrying night and day or having a nervous wreck mind-body running below the surface will not solve your problems. They could aggravate your health, that’s most precious and needs your protection.
With good mental and physical health daily practices, you can come up with solutions as you let go, and solutions present themselves, as time is a natural healer.
Your growing in other positive directions will guide you into where you were meant to land. Keeping yourself calm will lead you to your next success, and get you to your next step.
Staying engaged in your life, so you can see what you’re doing and where you’re going, as you and everyone adapts with the world. You got this.
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This post was previously published on Change Becomes You.
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Photo credit: Unsplash
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