I was driving home from my mom’s house the other day when I passed a section of businesses I wouldn’t normally think twice about. A thought popped in my head that I just wished for things to be back to normal – with people going about their daily activities, making plans, going into stores and dealing with whatever might be happening in their personal lives at the time. Instead of where we are now.
I know I’m not alone. Countless people around the world are feeling this same way or worse. And yet, our external world does nothing to help these feelings. We have the constant stream of news on TV, the Internet and in social media providing the latest updates on COVID-19. In addition, nearly every conversation I have with someone centers around (or at least mentions) coronavirus and its impacts. This is all understandable, but sometimes it causes more mental harm than good.
It’s easy to feel a sense of hopelessness about the current situation in the world. To feel upset about our inability to control what’s happening. To feel fearful about what to expect in the short and long term. It’s normal to have these types of emotions, plus a million more. That’s what makes us feeling, human beings. We should give ourselves grace and permission to have those feelings, to acknowledge and process them.
It’s healthy to accept that those feelings are normal and will come and go. However, it becomes unhealthy and unhelpful when we allow ourselves to sit with those emotions for prolonged periods of time. What you focus on, you attract. Most people are doing their part by following the guidelines set by our government and healthcare experts related to cleanliness and sanitation, social distancing and quarantining. However, something important is missing. What’s missing is the need for as many people as possible to picture this situation improving. To visualize people getting healthier and the spread of the virus dwindling. To picture our healthcare system ready and fully capable to handle any remaining cases. To see our businesses and the economy flourishing again and people returning to their normal activities.
The more people who picture what they WANT to see happen in the world, rather than what may be happening in the current moment, the more we are placing our collective, massive energy around those positive things happening. Even if you don’t believe in the power of visualization, I don’t think you can argue that it feels better to picture and think about the good, than to focus on the bad. What risk is there in doing this? None. What risk is there in not doing this? Too much.
Let’s all do our part in visualizing what we want to see happen and focus on the things we want to attract to our lives and to the world. We are all in this together, and together we have so much capability.
