These days, these remarkable days; if asked how I am – I say, “I feel like I’m neither here
nor there. In our post Covid world we are experiencing a transitional period. Is it over…?
Each morning much like a gopher, I pop my head out and try to determine what the day
may hold. So many of us have or are experiencing ‘overwhelmitis’ resulting in all of our
safety nets having become frayed. Our mental and physical resources are often spread
thin. There as been so much darkness and fear. SOMETIMES LIFE IS HARD AND ONE
WISHES THEY HAD A HELMET! Feeling unmoored is scary. Finding our footing is not
easy. Resilience isn’t always a stand up and shout “I’m fine now moment. That may be
the goal but the path is often bumpy with many twists and turns. It’s likely something
else…. somewhere between, I’m not quite okay yet but I’m getting there. So where is
there? It’s when the weight begins to lighten. The spirit lifts and feels the sun. Not
everything is dark. The power of you begins to return. There are more good days than
bad.
And nobody could say it as powerfully as the great A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh’s
father).
Halfway Down The Stairs
Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn’t any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop
Halfway up the stairs
Isn’t up
And it isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery,
It isn’t in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn’t really
Anywhere!
It’s somewhere else
Instead!
That somewhere else has to be a good enough place to be until your heart, mind and
body is ready to step up. It’s okay to not be okay if that’s what you are feeling.
Sometimes just acknowledging what you’re feeling instead of being ashamed of the
truth is the first step. I have so many things on a bad day that I am ashamed of. Most of
them are superficial – I don’t have thigh gap. I hate my arms. I certainly don’t believe in
the right to bare them. My skin, my sagging chin and on and on. They are the nonsense I
put up front in order to avoid the things that are truly gnawing away at my heart. We all
suffer from some kind of trauma from time to time. Currently, mine is an arrow to my
heart. It is also not something I can share, as it is too painful. So I meditate and I pray
and I sit on that step that is not up but not down and I think of my blessings which far
outweigh my troubles. I am reminded that I have an army of great friends and a pretty
good life. I am a person who likes to believe that cards I have been dealt may just need
to be reshuffled for a better outcome. I am lucky to be an optimist and I know that not
every one is as fortunate – but I do believe that being half way up is a great start. When
you can, try something new. Take baby steps at first. Learn a language, go out for
dinner alone, cut your hair short; take salsa classes. – Treat yourself to a makeover. Be
spontaneous, change it up. This is your life. And there is a full menu to choose from.
Dare to put your dreams into practice so that they can become a reality. Give yourself a
gold star or a new sexy bra whenever you step outside the box of your own making.
Trust that you are worth it.
Not my quote but one I love – We can’t always choose the music life plays for us – but
we can choose how we dance to it!