What matters most? Is a question I have been asking myself daily for the past several weeks. One I thought I knew the answer to, until the day the world turned upside down, and suddenly the question had a whole new meaning. This months blog topic was originally going to be about setting intentions, but with everything that has unfolded these past few months I thought I would share how my experience with asking myself this question, staying open and continuing to engage with life from a place of love and faith, even in the midst of chaos, reminded me of what matters most.
I was asked this question recently and it really made me think...
I was asked how I wanted to show up right now, in the midst of all this chaos and uncertainty, for myself, my family and my loved ones and I was asked to really think about this quesion, What matters most?, so I did.
Here is what I learned this past month about what really matters to me...
When I first heard about the virus it was in January, as our daughter was getting ready to head back to college after winter break. I had begun hearing reports that there was a virus that was causing some serious concern. But never thought that we would end up here, living with a global pandemic.
As the reports continued coming in, like so many of us, I thought, that the virus would be contained before getting to the US, but by the end of January the WHO organization had declared a global health emergency and the US was bracing for the worst. In February the first death was reported in China, while other countries like Korea, Italy and France became the next victims of the outbreak. When the month of March arrived so did the panic. With travel bans in place and other countries on total lock down and others told to shelter in place and stay home and only go out for necesseties, it was becoming rapidly clear that we too would soon be doing the same thing.
The panic buying and rumors that we would all be on "lock down soon...so we better stock up", started a wave of fear and anxiety across our nation. Which was then only exacerbated by social distancing rules, masks and gloves, the safer at home restrictions, businesses closing and others sending employees to work from home, schools closing so families suddenly had to home school their children, restaurants closing and trying to pivot their business so they could stay viable and generate an income, markets with lines of people waiting to get in, it was like being in a Twilight Zone movie in a nightmare. Hoping that we'd all wake up and it would all just be a dream.
But with each day the news was informing us of where it was and how it was spreading, how many cases there were and how many were dying. We started hearing about the struggles of our healthcare workers putting themselves in harms way, our grocery store workers who were continuing to show up to work to make sure that the rest of us had food, the truck drivers who were showing up to make sure deliveries arrived where they were supposed to and all the people who were told they no longer had jobs, all the people who were losing everything, all the people that were experiencing this pandemic as the worst thing possible, not an answer to a prayer to stay home and have more time with their families, for them this was not a reminder of how good life was or how good they had it, for many this was an immediate struggle to survive.
It was becoming a very scary reality, one that none of us had prepared for or ever thought possible, but yet here we were, a world, a people literally fighting for our lives, collectively.
It was no longer a you or them existence it was an all, as in we are all in this together. It didn't matter where we were from, our race, religion, sex, age, education, status, fame or power, it was a level playing field. No one was excluded from the possibilty. The fear of the unknown or what if?
So how would we get through this?
No one has ever done this before, no one!
This was a new experience for us all,one that was changing the landscape of our lives forever!
An experience that was going to change us one way or another. We just needed to find and focus on what matters most, through the fear and the unknown, and really ask ourselves, "how do I want to show up for myself and for my loved ones?"
Once I had a moment to wrap my head around what was happening and really think about the question, and allow myself the space to stay open, and shift from a place of fear to one of faith and love, my answer was simple,
I wanted to show up for myself, my family, and my loved ones with as much love hope grace and faith as possible.
In order for me to do that, I must take care of myself; mind body and soul, be aware and be mindful and not lose myself to the fear and the anxiety of the unknown, and focus on what matters most.
This experience has really made it clear, to me, what matters most, and to me that is...
My health and safety and the health and safety of my family and loved ones,
That I've tried my best, that I show up everyday trying my best, it's not about perfection, it's about doing it imperfectly,
And last but not least, this is the key to it all, that no matter what, I am thankful for all that I have.
Whether I am facing a global pandemic or living life as usual I am now more aware and more clear on what matters most to me!
So I ask you now to think about what matters most to you?
Tamarah
"Conscious Positive Living"
With ea