It’s Been Awhile…
Wow...Could an entire year have gone by? I guess I really haven't been attending to my webpage if an entire year and global pandemic has gone by and I didn't write one thing about it? It's all up here (in my head) I guess. That and I have worked really hard this year, increasing my client load tremendously because of the greater need, and volunteering some pro-bono sessions at the start of the pandemic when things were just NUTS really. We all didn't know what was going on, what was going to happen and could we really do this? Well the answer on that one is YES we did do this FOR A YEAR...and here we are in March 2021- we are not quite there but we are closer.
It has been amazing and a privilege to watch so many of my clients move from panic, deep depression and inability to sit with "what is" and being with themselves in very uncomfortable situations; being laid off, recovering from a surgery, ending a relationship, not seeing family for over a year, working from home and managing babies at the same time to practicing step by step to sit with themselves, take small challenges, build in self care, have hope, take risks and not merely survive this beast of a year but THRIVE. I know that this was not the case for everyone but being witness to this transformation is why I and other therapist do what we do.
For me I dug in too. I kept my structure- which I constantly reminded my clients to do; get out of your pajamas! Get dressed, take that morning walk/run whatever but do not just sit in one place all day.
I started running regularly again, one small social event twice per week during this cold cold winter.
I literally just asked two friends I would see every day on my morning walk with my dog, "hey I think I need to move more, "Can I run with you guys?" The answer-"yes", and so I started. ACCOUNTABILITY.
Now I have placed accountability all over my schedule. With my sister once a week to work on our career goals, with a coach I hired to keep pushing me to create the online course I have been pushing to the back burner (or just plain avoiding) for two years- YES 2 YEARS! I feel more engaged, Have more energy and I feel focused on what I want out of this next chapter of my life. How did COVID do this for me? Somehow it has, it has brought in the reality of life- we just don't know what is coming next, so perhaps we should dig in to what we have because it can change just like that.