How will you move forward this year? Are you waiting for the pandemic to be over so you can get “back to normal”?
What has the pandemic taught you about yourself? Life in general? Your friends? Business? Your community?
When the pandemic first started almost one year ago, I was inspired and hopeful by what I was seeing. Even though we were facing many challenges most of us have never had to face before, I was encouraged by the positive effects of people coming together. People were very nice to one another, helping each other and stepping up to help those in need. Communities were coming together and globally; we saw some positive effects on our climate. People and businesses were forced to innovate and pivot to offer their services to their customers and clients. Families were spending more time together and overall, everyone was appreciative of the slower pace, time to reflect and really connect to what is important.
Fast forward to today and things feel a lot heavier now than they did at the start. The world has been faced with many set backs and we’ve had to endure so many social injustices and so much loss that has only served to create more division and separation in our lives, communities and the world. While the vaccines provide some hope that there is an end in sight, my fear is that once we reach this point, we will simply go back to the way things were before without learning what we need to in order to grow and move forward.
Honestly, when I’m feeling overwhelmed, it’s easy for me to get lost in the distraction of difficulty. What I’ve learned from my cancer journey and from my years of coaching and personal development is I need to be intentional about setting myself up for success. This includes every aspect of my life from my self-care practice, to my work, my relationships and of course, fun and joy.
But how do we do that?
For me, I’m asking myself lots of questions. Some of which I started with at the beginning of this post.
I must admit, at the beginning of the pandemic, I found myself wishing and hoping for things to be the way they were. And, if I’m truly honest, a part of me still hopes for that. Don’t we all? Will we ever experience life as we knew it? I don’t have the answer to that, but I do know that for me, it’s imperative that I take this time to really understand who I am now, what I want to take from this experience, and how I want to incorporate that into my life and business.
Honestly, I can sum up everything in one word. I want to be INTENTIONAL. Intentional to me means on purpose. I do things deliberately, with thought. It also means I do things that connect with my purpose and my values.
Post pandemic will not be life as it was. Rather, it will be better. It will be Life 2.0 – Intentional. If you’re wanting the same, here are some questions and journaling prompts to help you get started.
- What have you struggled with the most throughout the pandemic?
- What have you learned about yourself – both positive and negative?
- What have you realized as a result of this time?
- What would you like to continue with or bring more of into your life?
- What if….
- What opportunities are available to you now?
- I choose….
“Being centered and intentional means that you have a reference point or a place to come back to when life’s challenges and emotions push you off balance. The center is the place you know you have to get back to.” ~ Louise Veres
I know my cancer journey has changed me and I know that this pandemic has also changed me. I don’t think any of us go through any major transition without it having a lifelong impact on us.
My hope is that this post has given you a chance to think more about who you are now as a result of this life experience and more importantly, who you want to be and what you need to support yourself going forward.
And, if you’d like some help in exploring this further, I invite you to take part in my upcoming Intentional Living Life 2.0 Program. To learn more, click here.
I hope you’ll join me and together, we can reconnect to our hearts through awareness and deliberate action.