Unprecedented.
Unpredictable.
Volatile.
Scary.
Uncertain.
Cataclysmic.
Crazy.
Chaotic.
Sad.
Biblical.
Turning point.

These are a lot of the words I’m hearing people use to describe what we’re all experiencing right now. Honestly, most of these are not warm and fuzzy, feel good words.

In a time when fears are heightened, and isolation and distance are the new normal, whatever fears, anxieties or neuroses that were there before, they’re now likely operating in overdrive.

You may be someone who now has more time on her hands than ever before. Or maybe, you’re someone who now has far more to juggle. Maybe you’re a mom that’s now without childcare, or a business owner who’s putting out fires left and right just to keep things from going up in smoke.

No matter who you are, or how today’s events are impacting you, here is one thing that unites us all:

We don’t know what things will look like on the other side of this. None of us do.

This is where most of our fears are coming from. The not knowing. It’s normal to want to cling to what was and what we knew because we don’t know where all of this is going to lead us.

The events of today are changing us. The world we’ve known will never be as it was before this pandemic. And as such, clinging to what was will only bring more discomfort and pain.

There are very harsh, very real, very raw things happening in the world right now, and I’m not minimizing these circumstances and events. Our government and communities and leaders have very intense life and death situations to navigate. I pray for their discernment and leadership right now.

And I also feel it’s important for each of us to recognize that on an individual level, we each possess a power, strength and gift that we can use to create the world we want to live in.

If we choose to, we can use this moment in time as an opportunity, and an opening where we can…

Feel.
Listen.
Be.
Dream.
Desire.
Breathe.
Dare.
Choose.
Envision.
Expand.
Live.
Love.

So, my question for you is:  What is being amplified inside of you right now?

Is it fear, anxiety and hopelessness? Or is it something different?

Pay attention to what is happening, not just outside of you, but inside of yourself, too. It may seem like a luxury, or maybe even like it’s a selfish, self-centered, inappropriate act, but THIS is the time to honor yourself – all of yourself, more than ever before.

THIS is a time to honor yourself – and all that you’re feeling… the fear, the grief, the panic, the disappointment and defeat…

THIS is a time to honor yourself – the parts of yourself that are tired, depleted, and worn out from call of the constant pushing, forcing, going, doing and proving…

THIS is a time to honor yourself – the visionary part of yourself that dreams, desires, and longs for something different, something better feeling, something more than you’ve been giving to yourself and living…

THIS is a time to honor yourself – that infinitely wise part of you that knows it’s time to look within, ask the hard questions, sit with the uncomfortable answers, realign with the truth you hear.

We are all standing together, on the precipice of massive change. It’s simultaneously heart wrenching and heart opening. Let yourself be drawn into your own self-loving arms right now and be soothed by your generous, compassionate, powerful self. Because it’s from this place that you can find peace amidst the storm. Wisdom amidst the cacophony. Ground amidst everything that is shifting and changing so rapidly.

It’s time to honor yourself NOW more than ever because life is asking more of us. It’s asking us to be more of who we really are – not the narrow confines of who we’ve been taught we should be.

There is an opportunity for you here and now – for all of us – to find out who you really are without all of the things that you’ve used to define yourself based on what you have, what you earn, and what you do.

What do you need to feel right now?
What do you desire?
Who are you really?

Will you allow the true you to emerge in all of her colorful, complex brilliance? Will you allow her to revolutionize your life, and the world around you, for the better?

You can clench, cling and contract right now. That’s actually very wise. And you can choose to not stay there.

You can choose a new direction for yourself – one that can have ripple effects on everyone you know and love, the community you live in, and the greater global community. Because you are the chooser, the director, and the creator of your life.

You can choose to come out of the events of today new, different, fresh and real. Finally. Being true to you. You decide. You have a choice. You and only you.

Who do you want to be on the other side of this?
Will you choose the real you?