| Hello Dear Friends, It is a New Day, a Fresh Start, a New Quarter, a Blank Canvas. Spring has officially arrived! 🙂 For many of us it feels like the whole world is ON PAUSE right now. Most of us are now confined in our homes, processing the current events “out there” and trying to make sense of it all “on the inside”. So if we cannot go outside, let us go INSIDE. I have had many many conversations with my family, my friends, my communities and this is what I have come to understand: We all have a very different experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every single person I have spoken to is living it, feeling it, experiencing it in a very unique way. |
| The Emotional Range is Wide: Some are experiencing Fear and Anxiety, even Panic. Others are feeling Connection, Love, even Gratitude. And many of us are somewhere in the middle, riding the different emotional waves up and down, trying not to drown. As a Life Coach and Facilitator, I have been observing my own “surfing” and have been constantly self-coaching for the past three weeks. I know to be true: This current CIRCUMSTANCE that seems to be absorbing so much of our emotional energy right now is actually completely NEUTRAL. Circumstances are the things that happen in the world around us, events and phenomenons we cannot control. A circumstance is a generally accepted fact: COVID-19 has spread around the world. Now, stay with me. You have no control over the circumstance, but you CAN control your thoughts about what is happening and choose how you perceive the circumstance. |
| Yes, it is a choice (even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.) The meaning YOU CHOOSE to associate with the circumstance will change the way you experience it, for yourself and your life, your family and your business. OUR THOUGHTS about the virus, and its potential consequences for the world, are what create our FEELINGS. Thoughts are just sentences in our mind, they are completely harmless unless we believe them and attach meaning to them that is negative or positive. Yes, there is a virus. Yes, it is spreading. Yes, there is death. Yes there are thousands of medical helpers in hospitals right now saving people. These are the FACTS. But what does it MEAN to you and what actions are you taking once you have identifies your personal perspective on the circumstance? What is the Story you are creating in your mind? And what do you DO? I find for myself (having experienced the whole range of emotions from Fear and Anxiety to, Compassion and Grief, to Unconditional Love and Gratitude) that some of my emotional choices are not very useful in the current situation. I strongly believe that we need to experience all of our emotions fully, without ignoring them, resisting them or pushing them away (which may result in overeating, over-drinking, overworking, over-exercising…) But dwelling and staying too long in a negative emotion isn’t very beneficial or useful or helpful, as it doesn’t lead to actions that actually serve the situation in a meaningful way. |
| Maybe you feel this circumstance is happening TO YOU? Or that you have no control over your feelings about it? Again: You may not be able to control what is happening out there, but you can choose how to respond and how to feel by managing your mind. Believe me, it is true. You can create whichever experience you want today. Let me ask you a question: How do you WANT TO FEEL about this current situation? Imagine I came to you with a tray of emotions to choose from (like offering you cocktail shots during a party): “Hello, perhaps you could handle some Fear? Or a shot of Anger? Over here we have a 10-year-old Love. This one’s Excitement: always a crowd pleaser. Or maybe you’d prefer a little Understanding? Some Compassion? We also have Shame or Guilt on the rocks. This one’s Gratitude: people seem to forget about it, but it makes a great chaser.” Which one would you choose? And then WHAT ACTIONS would you take from that emotional place? I have spoken to people who are now taking the opportunity to create even more value, who are serving even more: They are choosing this moment to share more love, more consciousness, more peaceful thoughts. I have seen young adults start new businesses, write poems, be creative with their time, helping wherever they can. My impulse has been coaching non-stop and serving people to deal with their Emotional Management. |
| From this perspective here are some thoughts I wish to offer you: Maybe this is a wake up call for humanity to be more connected, to love more, to fully understand our interconnectedness and realize our oneness. Maybe the environment is finally taking a deep breath. The sky in China (and in Paris for that matter) has not been as clear in a very long time. Maybe we need to change how we run our economic and financial systems. You can dwell on fearful thoughts, watch the media all day long and hide. And this is OK. You can be the neutral observer and take it all in, process it and just be present. And this is OK. You can be choose the emotion of love and gratitude and create as much value as you can. And this is OK too. There are no right or wrong feelings in the situation. I just encourage you to be aware that you are in control. It is all a choice. It is totally up to you. You are completely in charge. Sending you all my love, Nina |
