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When we don’t know what else to do, hold on. Keep going. Continue. Persevere. Sometimes that is all we can do. We may feel weak. We may feel helpless. We may feel afraid. No matter. Hold on. Hold on.
To what are we holding on to? We hold on to hope. We hold on to endurance. We hold on to the notion that this moment won’t last forever….even if it seems so. We hold on to the knowledge that this dark night too shall pass.
And while we are holding on? How to go on?
“I do my best because I’m counting on you counting on me.” ~ Maya Angelou
We need to bring our best selves to the situation at hand – here, the pandemic. We need to be thoughtful, compassionate, and informed. We need to listen more than speak, to plan more than hoard, to reassure, more than freak out. And we need to acknowledge that it’s hard and we are all in this together. There is no more us and them. The virus doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t stop at borders of countries or borders of states. The virus doesn’t consider one’s age, ethnicity, or locale. It’s a free for all for this virus. So we must recognize how invasive it is and give it the smallest of arenas in which to spread. Staying away from others can keep us both alive.
Feel your feelings, but do not lose heart. Sensitive people and empaths will feel the sorrow of the world more acutely, and it will exhaust us at times. Acknowledge it, but don’t let it overtake you. And take time to yourself to rest and restore your energy.
Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, gives us this advice in her post How to Hold on to Happiness When Your World Collapses – https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-happiness/202003/how-hold-happiness-when-your-world-collapses,
“Experience bursts of positive emotion throughout the day.” Small acts like listening to a song, watching your children play, going for a walk, smelling home cooking, tasting a good meal, touching the new budding flowers of spring can bring you small reprieves from the calamity going on around us. We need these small breaks of joy. We need time to breathe and to reset so that we can continue to persevere.
We must hold on to get through.
” No matter how buried it gets, or lost you feel, you must promise me, that you will hold on to hope and keep it alive. We have to be greater than what we suffer. My wish for you is to become hope. People need that.” ~ Peter Parker/Spiderman
OK Spiderman. Holding on.
