What do you have to lose?

What do you have to lose?

“I think everything happens for a reason and I think we try too hard to try to quantify all of those reasons instead of just being in the moment” -Abraham Hicks

You may have seen the video I posted on my Facebook page. This quote was borrowed from it. I was showering while listening. I have so many ideas that come to me in the shower! I need to figure out a way to write them down in all that soapy watery mess someday. Sometimes my thoughts are so fleeting that I cannot succinctly recall anything more than their nuance, the way they made me feel. I want to shout the thought/feeling from the rooftops and share it with the world because it just seems soooo profound! And then… just like that… the words are gone and all that is left is the residual feeling inside me. And it feels good. I am starting to realize that those thoughts were apparently just for me. As a perpetual caretaker, I sometimes forget that I don’t HAVE to make my experience into an experience for someone else. And then sometimes….. I do!

Today, in the shower, my thoughts were running, spinning, twirling as I listened and explored. When I got out of the shower, dried off, dressed (in my Yoga pants because, well, I’m not working right now) and was combing my hair when the above quote came out of my phone. I stopped the recording immediately, rewound and wrote it down. Man, it felt like a perfectly timed “shout it from the rooftops” moment.

What does “in the moment” mean in such an unprecedented scenario such as the Coronavirus pandemic? We are all humans, navigating this circumstance the best we know how. And how we know best is very different. Clearly, we are all different. We have always known that but what if…. WHAT IF we looked at how we are all the same? Why does different always seem to outweigh same? Does it perhaps matter more? I think this is this just ANOTHER opportunity to look at the other end of the stick? I love that! Other end of the stick. (Thank you CY!) If I don’t like how something feels, explore what are the feelings or what is the perspective on the other end of the stick. Is that being in the moment? Try it, what do you have to lose?

In dis-ease we try to quantify the reasons for the disease, what did I do….. what did someone else do…. Who is to blame? How come this “happened” to me? (Ha! That is funny to me and someday I might elaborate but for now take my laughter as you will.) How can I move forward if I don’t know all the ins and outs of what came before? Truth is…. It doesn’t matter!!! It just doesn’t! Just-be-in-the-moment. Move forward from that very moment. Give it a shot, change the emotion by thinking a different thought. What do you have to lose?

In regards to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have options!!! yes, folks, options!!! I don’t mean just throw caution to the wind and disregard what the professionals are saying but rather follow the advice of the collective minds. Practice social distancing and focus on your creation. How can this “forced” shift in gears be a desired gear that takes you on a path you’ve always wanted or better yet, a path you didn’t even know existed!!! Gasp!! Not everyone has more free-time right now, some of you are working overtime on the front lines to manage the many new needs of the world. From the government officials working with the health experts to the CNAs working in the local nursing home and every essential health worker in between, to the grocers/farmers/truckers trying to keep us all fed, to so many behind-the-scenes folk I don’t even know about. All with a collective (same) goal of caring for the people. And yet, you have choices. You can step into this with fear weighing heavy or you can step into this with a sense of collaboration and creation of nurturing well-being. That doesn’t mean that risk just magically disappears and everything is honky-dory. It means you CHOOSE to not make your decisions based in fear but in a powerful knowing of how to do your job and have compassion for others who cannot yet see the other end of the stick. What do you have to lose?

Oh so many of you may be finding yourself with unexpected free-time. This obviously is the category I am falling into! It is absolutely a feeling I have never in my life encountered. I have had a job or been in school (or both) since I was 5 years old. And I am A LOT older than that now. Talk about emotions that come with this! Yes, this is scary and it naturally brings up worries. Worries about finances, worries about illness, worries about your family and friends and frankly so much more time to worry…. Or NOT!!! Don’t waste this time on worry, it does not ultimately change the outcome of things you cannot control. “Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it gets you nowhere!” I don’t know who originally said that but I saw it on the sign in front of the Leeds VA center many many years ago and it stuck. Instead, find that silver-lining, do that thing you have been putting off, connect with those people you haven’t had time to connect with, social distancing does not equal social isolation We got the world at our finger tips, literally! How can you connect with your community and offer support? No offer too big or too small. Oh my, look over there. What is it? It’s the other end of the stick! Dang, it does exist. Be creative folks. What do you have to lose?

There are many variations in belief around the Coronavirus. Heck, belief is our (societies) biggest divider in ANY conversation. I have heard the full spectrum from the firm non-believers to the over-believers and everything in between. What you believe matters. Truly, it does! The thing is, it only matters to you. What I ask is that you sit down with your belief, talk to it. “Hi belief, let’s have some coffee. You are the only one I can have a face-to-face conversation with today. You are my belief, I take you everywhere with me. Isn’t it cool that we are such good buddies through thick and thin?” Now ask your BFF (belief for forever) the hard question. Find out if the belief makes you feel good or not. If it doesn’t feel good, why not try out a different belief? In reality your beliefs, in and of themselves, don’t have feelings so they won’t be mad if you decide to break up with them and have coffee with another belief. Just try it. See what happens. What do you have to lose?

If you have made it this far in my blog, I am so thankful to have you along on this crazy journey of life and all the amazing experiences it brings with it. My creative mind is waking up. I am planning some ways to reach out with collective community offerings. I am just beginning the walk of this journey (sometimes it’s a crawl and sometimes it’s a slippy slide) and I hope I will see many of you along the way in some capacity or another. Like my FB page to be kept in the loop or better yet, sign up with your email on my website. https://www.shannonlwade.com/

​What do you have to lose?

Be safe, stay well, breathe and stretch!
~Shannon