“Good Things Are Gonna Come…”

When I launched my website I created a calendar and schedule of what I want to post each week. However, on March 18 I felt like posting the blog I had scheduled about “Becoming the you you’ve always been” vs. anything having to do with COVID-19 was disrespectful to all of my readers and would appear as if I was turning a blind eye to the global situation. Three weeks later I feel like this topic is still very relevant to blog about, so I will continue on this path for a bit longer.

My blogs the past few weeks have addressed the issue that we are all facing, while trying to be as uplifting as possible. I’m not trying to annoy people or downplay the seriousness of the situation; I’m merely suggesting that we can still do our best to search for the good in this difficult situation and we can ride the waves of this chaos together.

“We are in this together…”

When I say, “We are in this together”, I’m not saying that facetiously or trying to suggest we should all be social distancing, 6 feet apart around a campfire singing kumbaya. I’m trying to bring a different perspective to what we are all facing when the news is bombarding us with a lot of negativity.

On Sunday night I watched the AMC Awards special (the award ceremony has now been rescheduled for September 2020) and it was a very touching. There were no gowns worn designed by Mark Jacobs or long red carpet to interview the celebrities on as they walked into the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The artists were in jeans, performing songs from their own homes, singing from their hearts to fill our living rooms with a little joy. Many of them pouring out words of hope and inspiration at the beginning or end of their sets, most closing with some version of, “We are in this together”.

I love almost all types of music. One of my first blogs was about my passion for music, how powerful music is, how it affects our brains and how it’s helped me get through difficult times in my life. Even the title of my website came from a song by Amy Gerhartz. “Hold On”, (released the day after my divorce was final) was my anthem for many weeks following my divorce. Listening to it now, it’s amazing how the lyrics really touch on what we are all facing in the world these days. Her lyrics in the first part of the song:

When your heart is aching,

And your world is shaking,

Don’t give up, No don’t give up!

When your light is fading,

From the troubles you’re facing,

Don’t give up, Don’t give up!

Hold on, Hold on,

Good things are gonna come, Good things are gonna come!

One of the questions I asked Amy back in October when I interviewed her was:

How do you keep moving forward each day, even on the bad days?  

Amy: Great question! I talk a LOT about self-love and positivity, but even I have days where I’m just not feeling it.  What I’ve learned to do in those moments is to have grace with myself. We are only human! So, on the challenging days, this is what I do:

• ) I acknowledge what I’m feeling. Ignoring your feelings does NOT fix them, so allow yourself a moment to recognize what is happening and see if you can figure out why you’re feeling off. Was there a trigger? Is it situational? Just one of those days?

• ) I make sure to be extra kind to myself while I’m working through those feelings. Instead of pushing forward like nothing is happening, I take a breath and try to do something kind for myself: go for a walk, take a yoga class, a calming bath, or honestly even lay on the floor and cry it all out for a minute! You cannot keep those emotions in, and you sure as hell don’t want to dump them on someone else! I’ve also been known to give myself hugs, treat myself to a donut and literally take an entire day off work if I need to, just to decompress. Remember, your mental health is so very important.  You must take care of yourself in order to be there for others.

• ) This is pretty much every day, but I constantly surround myself with positive and motivational affirmations. I place my hand on my heart and read them out loud daily! Our brains are so powerful, and they will believe what we feed them.

Sunday night when I was watching the country artists social distancing in their  own homes, reaching out to the world through our television sets…it made me think of the friends I have in the United States, Italy, England, Norway, Spain, Africa and Costa Rica to name a few countries. All of them, all of you, all of us, are experiencing life changing circumstances due to the global pandemic we are experiencing.

We all are being affected very differently, some have lost their jobs, some have no homes to “shelter-in-place” in, some have lost their loved ones, and some have lost their lives. No matter what, we are all being affected by this in one way or another. Some are facing more hardships than others, but all of us will feel the effects at some point.

Amy’s lyrics go on to say, “You got this one day at a time”, and she is right. You Got This…We Got This. And all we can do is take each day, one at a time.

Try to find a bit of positive in each day.

Be kind to yourself and be kind to others.

Take a deep breath and picture something you are thankful for today, maybe even turn on Amy’s song and sing along, “Good things are gonna come”.

You Got This…We Got This!

XOXO~

 

 

 

 

 

 

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