Are these the end times?

Yes… those are actual words I’ve seen fly across my screen after the last few weeks we’ve had. Every time I look at social media, I see people nervous and scared about what’s happening inthe world. The global pandemic Covid-19 is changing everything around us. Open up the news and it’s death and sickness and closings and quarantines.

We watch the news to try to stay informed and we walk away disturbed and demoralized. People are extremely upset and unsettled, wondering what’s going to happen to them and their families.

It would be very easy to cower under the covers and wish for it all to go away… but we can’t afford to do that.

Hope is something we create.

Hope is not something that magically appears from an outside source. We can’t go through a drive thru and order a biggie size Hope Sandwich with a side order of compassion. Cultivating hope is hard work but so much better than the despair alternative.

We each have within us the capacity to generate hope. It’s critical that we be absolutely intentional about nurturing hope in our lives and the lives of our children. Now more than ever, overcoming fear and holding onto hope are essential.

So here’s what to do instead…

Treat yourself with kindness.

Grieve if you must. Cry and write and talk and know that it’s okay to feel the way that you do. You’re human and need to accept all that goes with that. And once you’ve had all your feels, do something nice for yourself. Be it a cup of tea, or a long walk on a beautiful day, a spa day, or some quiet time all to yourself to read your favorite book. Be gentle with yourself. You’re a passionate person and deserve to be treated well. Do that for you.

Communicate with supportive and capable people.

Strive to surround yourself (even virtually if you can’t get out) with those people who help you to feel good and encourage you to be your best. Choose uplifting friendships versus those who always talk about what’s wrong with the world. We already KNOW what’s wrong, choose to be around those who want to live in the solution. Living in the problems will suck the joy right out of your soul. There are like minded nurturing hope filled people out here… let’s band together and make the world better.

Change the way you think… and you will change the way you feel.

Instead of always focusing on the negative, awful things that have you feeling hopeless, make a conscious decision to think about what you have. Gratitude can make or break a person’s emotional stability.  It often only takes a simple change to the way you think to change your outlook on life and the energy you’re putting out into the universe. Having destructive thoughts can lead to destructive, angry behaviour and it may feel as though you have no control over it, but you do. Similarly, thinking only positive thoughts and focusing on pushing out the negative thoughts can affect your behaviour. Your mind can be trained to focus on certain thought patterns and eventually, it will come naturally.

Become an activist!

Nothing increases hope more than DOING SOMETHING. Don’t like the outcome of the election no matter what the country? Get involved in local politics or activist groups. Volunteer to make a change in what you see as a problem. Feel passionately about your beliefs? ACT on them. Volunteer in any way you can. Become part of the movement for change in a positive way. Whether it be in an online forum or at your local political headquarters get up and get active. It’s easy to feel listless when you’re sitting on your behind, watching the world happen around you.

Remember that life is always changing. Things can, and will, get better.

It may seem like mindless platitudes, but all those inspirational quotes you see streaming on your screen are RIGHT. It is always darkest before the dawn. The SUN always does come back. Love trumps hate. Life is constant movement. No matter how dark and dismal things may seem, there is beauty in the struggle. How else would we have a space to HAVE hope if there wasn’t calamity. We WILL get through this chaos… if we make it so.

Now more than ever, we need light and hope and happiness and kindness and generosity and compassion. Be that light that shines in the dark and know that you are NOT alone. Hope still lives. I’d love to hear your take… hit me up on Facebook or Twitter and let’s talk about it!