Lockdown 3.0 is really testing me.
The racing mind can wreak havoc when we let it get away from us.
I would consider myself a mindful person, I meditate, journal, and take regular walks in the countryside.
Yet, I still find myself struggling hard through this lockdown.
Don’t get me wrong none of the last year has been easy, but I am definitely finding myself trying to be Mystic Meg a lot more this time around.
Unfortunately, just like Mystic Meg, I can’t predict the future either.
Our emotions are just like the Irish weather, ever changing and unpredictable.
Sunny one minute, grey, gloomy and raining the next.
This is a pretty s**t situation we are in at the moment.
It is OK to feel however you feel.
Never try to block out your feelings. Allow yourself to feel them without any judgment.
However, I would encourage you to have an inquisitive mindset.
When you are feeling a certain way, ask yourself some questions.
Why am I feeling this way? What are my thoughts that are making me feel this way?
By asking those questions you may come to the same conclusion I have.
My feelings in any given day can go from sad to angry to frustrated and upset, but in the same day can be happy, grateful and at peace.
Mental I know, but that is the case for most of us.
We are never sad ALL of the time, we are never happy ALL of the time.
Such is life, such is emotion.
My realisation is that when I am walking in the woods with Lisa and Chance, when I am sitting down to breakfast having a coffee, when I am training or working on my vision of the evolution of 28toGr8 and ATP.… I feel happy, grateful and excited.
When I am thinking about the next few months, when I am trying to decide about our wedding AGAIN, when I am trying to predict how long the gym will be closed, or when there will be some resemblance of normality… I feel angry, annoyed, frustrated and sometimes want to cry!
What is the difference between the two?
Those positive feelings are all happening when I am in the present moment.
Those negative feelings are all happening when I am trying to live in the future.
It isn’t easy to remain in the present, we are constantly thinking about the past and future.
Just try and catch yourself the next time you are playing Mystic Meg.
We like to be able to plan ahead and know what is coming up, as hard it is for me to take, that just isn’t possible to do right now.
Usually looking to the future brings excitement of the events ahead, right now I would suggest, as much as you can to focus on the present.
Focus on right now, find the positives to right now. (I know it may be hard but there are some there)
The reality of the long road ahead is what I feel has caught me (and many others) off guard.
I didn’t expect January to be the end, but I didn’t expect to be changing my wedding at the end of May AGAIN, or the gym being closed for so long.
I know from speaking to some family and friends that people are really struggling a lot more this time around.
I would ask you to make an extra effort to contact people, stay in touch, make a phone call or go for walk if you can.
It will matter.
Ian
ATP
P.S.
You might not change the world, but you can change one persons entire world. Make the call.
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