Christ is Risen. Alleluia!
This week I am going to share with you some ideas to assist you to adjust your mindset and deal with the reality of the situation that is not a temporary pause, but a long term adjustment to the way that we live in the world.
Communication is no easy task. As we start making plans for the future, it is difficult to keep everyone in the loop, while we evaluate different scenarios and work out new ways of doing things. In whatever we do, how people respond to the plans and work with or against them will determine their success or failure, and not the brilliance of the plan. I really empathize with Government and the task ahead, when I think about how small a task our reorganizing of Church is, in comparison. However, the issues are exactly the same for the nation for the Organization and for the family unit. How will we pay for it? How will we get people to change behaviour, how will we lead people in a crisis when we were struggling with a sense of normality? Human nature resists change no matter what it is and so adjusting to the circumstances of this worldwide crisis is difficult.
Our human minds are strange. If I said that I had climbed Everest and wanted to share some life lessons with you, you’d be impressed. But would it work to tell a group of climbers that I had some life lessons that could help them climb Everest? We are good at learning from sports analogies and conquests, but do we learn as much and acknowledge it in our daily lives. This situation that we find ourselves in might not be as glamorous as Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro -but it is your mountain to climb. Climbers will tell you how the physical aspects are not the hard part, it is the mind, that you have to be overcome. Fatigue is more a state of mind than a physical issue.
But there is something that we can apply from our friends the climbers. Recently I was climbing with my boys, I don’t even think there is a grade for the little rock we were on, but any rock face, is a challenge that you have to apply yourself to fully, no matter the level of difficulty. The lesson that we were working on was that you must climb from a position of comfort, if you are not confident in your stance then you will not be able to move on. And once you are comfortable the next obstacle seems less intimidating. Like the climbers of Everest who go up and come back down to acclimatize, we need to find ourselves where we are and find a level of certainty, before we can think of moving on.
So how do we find ourselves how do we get comfortable in #Lockdown so that we can prepare to move forward. I share here three things that we need to attend to. Fatigue, Exercise and choosing what you listen to.
Are you tired? If more sleep is what you need, get it. Worry is an exhausting task and one that fatigue will not help you overcome. Get enough rest.
Get enough exercise, even simple stretching is a valuable start. Stand up and stretch and bend your knees and get the circulation going. Find a guide and make sure you are getting exercise.
Who are you listening to? There is just so much news and opinion and noise out there. By now you should have decided which news station to listen to, and when. Don’t watch very news broadcast, don’t flip through the channels to see what’s most interesting or alarming. Choose your trustworthy companions and stick with them. Let them deal with the noise and the clutter and refine what you need to know. If you are worried that you are getting a biased view, choose one other outlet and every now and then check in with them. A good idea is to follow a different source on your different platforms, but don’t confuse yourself. Find a consistent solid news source and don’t overburden yourself with information.
There is a cycle of events that we must go through to deal with crisis and it is similar to that of the stages of grief. You will probably find yourself at the “bargaining phase “now. Just wishing you could get back to a normal income earning life with social interaction and you are willing to make some compromises to achieve that. Think carefully about what you are prepared to compromise, do without, do differently. It is these emotions and thoughts that you will need to work through to build a new you, in a new world.
If you have never journaled before there is no time like the present to start. Your thoughts are going to have changed and you are on unfamiliar territory. Journaling helps you to work through the uncertainty.
We are entering a new phase of the crisis cycle and it comes with a lot of uncertainty and challenge. We need to approach with our minds alert and be open to change. This is what is means to trust God. To open ourselves to experience the journey and not run away from it.
Be assured of my prayers!
Rector.
