Living within Divide
Living in a time where if feels like the culture has become both accusatory and confessional can be quite triggering.
Suddenly information comes out of something someone has done wrong and the masses immediately condemn, and the accused confesses from a reactionary standpoint because of the bestowed upon pressure.
Neither side seeming to hear/listen, but rather defending their position and claiming why it's "right" or "wrong".
Whether this be from a global stance - pandemic
(mask/no mask; total lock-down/herd immunity;
vaccine/no vaccine, etc.)
or
an economic view
or
a political view
a social view
a spiritual/religious view
a personal view
The scenes seems to play out the same.
And the more one party or the other feels unheard or not agreed with, then they bring in all of their supporting reasons why they are right and the other is wrong type thinking.
An example could be of the Chinese cultural revolution, where people publicly confessed to things they hadn't done, in order to appease a crowd in full group-think.
Another example could be Black Lives Matter verses All Lives Matter.
The lines between the "right" and "wrong" seem to be currently battling it out on a tug-of-war stage of "I'm right and your wrong" and vice versa.
If you've ever played tug-of-war as a kid, you may recall how intense that got at some point, and how difficult it became to hold and defend your position. You may have on an unconscious level or maybe conscious level during all of this thought of strategizing ways to over take your opponent(s).
Again, this tug-of-war game was a process......a process that may initially start out as fun or exhilarating, then into seriousness and intensity.
With all that's going on with a global pandemic, civil unrest, unemployment, next school year's schedule undetermined for many this creates deep triggers of uncertainty, which can lead down a path or roadway of emotional upheaval, anxiety, stress, depression/sadness, anger, and potentially a whole lot of doubt both in self and others.
Why was the overall unity of Americans so different during 9/11 then it is now?
There's many who have lots of theories, reasons and explanations for that, and my mere two cents is that the majority of the whole (Americans) felt attacked and violated from outsider(s)/intruder(s), and as such collectively set into action to help, calm, secure, and stabilize the whole country. There did not feel like a divide of economic class, social, or political parties.
Today's situation initially started out as a collective group of beings deciding to participate in a pause for a period of a couple of weeks in order to ascertain what we were facing.
In facing such an uncertainty or experiencing something like a global pandemic virus with no real knowledge of what we were facing lots of conclusions are made. Why? Because as humans it's within our primordial makeup to "fill in the gaps" as a survival mechanism.
With so many things that have been boiling under the surface for quite sometime it's no wonder there's been an eruption on many levels.
Change is messy.
Uncertainty can be scary.
Fear can trigger the shit out of us.
And
Change can be beautiful.
Uncertainty can be exciting.
Fear can be a warning of physical and emotional danger.
How do we navigate through this?
We seem to generally always start with the questions of 'How' rather than perhaps 'What'?
What if we started with 'What'?
What if the "How do we get through this" was approached from a "What is the outcome I want to come out of this and WHY?"
Is your desired outcome goal to support, encourage, help others in ways that collectively bring us out more united?
Or
Is your desired outcome goal to focus on your health and wellness, mentally/emotionally/physically/spiritually?
Or
Is your desired outcome goal to say, "See I was right and you were wrong?"
Be CLEAR on what you want your outcome to be and WHY.
It's easy to get caught up in the waves of fear, the waves of uncertainty, the waves of attacks, and the waves of inflexibility, which can set you back physically, mentally and emotionally.
Be clear for YOU what you want your life too look like after we come through these days.
Once you are clear on what you want, then you can begin taking action towards that daily.
Change is a process, and can be likened to a race WITH a tortoise and a hare.
Imagine for a minute......
If you've heard the story of the race BETWEEN the tortoise and the hare they each set out with their own agendas.
What if we switched that story up just a bit to have the hare and the tortoise partnering up together?????
Coming back to the question posed earlier, "What is the outcome you want to come out of this and Why?". What if the hare's role is making the DECISION right NOW as to what you want, and the tortoise's role is to take ACTION steps DAILY towards that desired outcome, would this be beneficial for you?
It is easy to get pulled into the tide of panic, the tide of anxiety, the tide of sadness, the tide of stress, and if not mindfully aware of when you're being pulled can knock you down.
When we get knocked down, we may need help.support standing back up and re-steadying ourselves....It's OK!
If you're currently feeling overwhelmed or feeling like you're being knocked off your center a little bit, then get in touch with me and lets have a conversation.
Until next time, I send you so much love.