Finding Strength In 2021

We wake up each day craving normalcy but this new way we’re all living is anything but normal. In fact many days it can feel pretty disappointing, hopeless and disheartening. The uneasiness of anxiety and depression begin to creep in and stay a little bit longer each day. Some of us can push it away while others fight and fight but still end up giving in to it. Eventually the depression and anxiety get the best of all of us—we are human after all.

 

So what do we do with this unexpressed emotion that sits inside of us while we have to live our life, go to work, take care of our families and households? You might hear the voice of your mother saying “it is what it is,” encouraging you to move on with your day. Despite her best intentions, that wisdom doesn’t quite do its job and you still feel weary. But nonetheless, life does move on and you have to buckle down and get the work done, whether there is a pandemic or not.

 

You’re not alone thinking that this is a terrible feeling. You are struggling inside, yet there is no one or no thing that can make it better. There are only a few things in this world that can make us feel like this and a global pandemic is one of them. Isn’t that what makes this so much worse? We want to talk about it, but to who? Who isn’t affected and who isn’t suffering, too? The painful moments of despair feel all the worse because despite knowing other people understand, you almost want to find someone who doesn’t get it so you can let it all loose and tell them all about it. Instead, talking to your spouse or best friend feels like you’re sitting in front of a mirror just speaking the words right back to yourself. What’s there to say that hasn’t been said already?

 

Could we actually find a hidden gem of light in all of this? Why in the world would we accept this life and not wish for a better one? You see, there is a common error we are making and we don’t even realize it.

 

What if we found a place where we could truly understand one another because we shared a rare universal experience? The opportunity in tragedy is to see others in a much deeper and more real way than we ever had before. Perhaps the break from normalcy was just what we needed to reboot our minds and to see that dark times can bring us light too.