One foot in front of the other
How the hell are we supposed to cope with the storm surrounding all of us?
Put one foot in front of the other and tune everything else out.
A couple weeks ago, I thought I was going to die.
Now, those thoughts were inspired by many factors. I was feeling pretty sick, sure, but what really fueled those worry thoughts was ingesting all of the bullshit hysteria that was blowing up my social media feeds and television screen.
According to most media outlets, based on my symptoms at the time, they were going to start fitting me for a toe tag in a matter of days.
And I have never cried more in a 5-day span than I have as an adult. My mind was all over the place and I had no clue what to do.
Around Day 6, I had had enough of the same worry thoughts circulating throughout my mind. I had had enough of the click bait bullshit meant to freak me out enough to read the article.
First, I decided that there will be no more TV news of any kind in my house. If I want to get updates on anything important, I’ll go to the NYS of Health site or the CDC.
With regard to social media, the moment I get a sniff that someone is posting something that’s clearly not vetted, I immediately skip right past it - and if that’s a repeat offender, I’m no longer their connection.
As far as my own mental health, I took strides to calm down my anxious mind by doing some breathing exercises. I’m not a meditator, but the breathing on its own helps - and really started employing some positive self-talk.
Out loud, in my apartment.
I implored myself to focus on the here and now, and not worry myself into feeling more sick. It was a motivational conversation that included a lot of colorful language, to be sure, :)
But the takeaway from those slight adjustments to what I was consuming and how I was talking to myself immediately made an impact on how I was feeling mentally and emotionally.
Was I back to health 100%?
No - as of writing this article, my lungs are still slow to heal - but my spirit was restored.
Hope was restored.
And, being present in the here and now was restored.
Rather than catastrophizing about my health and my business being torpedoed for the time being, I was back to taking things in stride and focusing on one task at a time.
I was putting one foot in front of the other, and still am as we speak.
Is it easy to do so?
Nope - I trip and bust my ass on a daily basis. Ask my friends how much I bitch and moan about not being able to breathe all that well..
But while I fall, I am also finding success in accomplishing a lot of the little things that go a long way:
I make my bed every morning.
I am following a health regiment that I plan to keep around long after this Covid shit is gone.
I bought an exercise bike and love the convenience of jumping on it almost every day.
I’m cleaning areas of my house more than I ever have before - although dust is still my enemy, lol.
And, I’ve created a new offer for my speaker clients that allows me to serve in a productive and valuable way for those I serve.
Like I said, I’m putting one foot in front of the other.
While the world is on fire, and we have absolutely no idea what’s in store for any of us, the only thing we can control right now is the way we act and react.
Rather than worst case scenario’ing every second of every day, ground yourself in the here and now.
Be present, cherish the time you have with friends and family, whether they’re with you in the same space or virtually, and seek out the little victories that you can savor.
Put one foot in front of the other and take it from there.
You got this.
We got this.
#yeahabsolutely