Gaining Trust During Uncertainty

Goodness, our reality is very different today than it was a week ago.  Not much is the same.  No school.  Businesses shut down. 

Food scarcity is on everyone’s mind.  I’ve never seen so many people focused on toilet paper!  It seems like there is panic in the air.  We are experiencing something most of us have only seen in movies and it can seem scary. 

The thing is – every day is uncertain.  Our schedules gave us the illusion that we have control over things that we really cannot control.

So what can we do?

Get in touch with how we feel.

It might feel like we are walking on a tightrope without a net.  We might feel frozen.  We might feel numb or even in shock.  Or overwhelmed and annoyed but yet at the same time we might feel alone or abandoned.  Whatever you feel is the right way to feel.

We all have the goal of seeing this through, somehow surviving, and ultimately thriving again.

But to move forward, you can’t trust what you don’t trust yet.

How to gain confidence in the unknown?

Meditation.  I’m sure you’ve heard that before.  It’s not a new idea however this is a new situation so meditation might feel different now in this reality.

We have all this information coming at us right now and it’s hard to know what information is factual.  Geez, so much news is being reported that the news reporters are contradicting themselves!  There are politicians who are showboating.  In NY, there is a public battle of some sort between the governor and the mayor of NYC and I know we are not the only state with this problem.

Social media is full of posts and fuels the sense of panic and fear, even when people are posting jokes.  We have very real decisions to make for our own lives and also for our children.  But to move forward, you can’t trust what you don’t trust yet.

Was this a warning bell or was it guidance?

You might get an idea to do something but then not be sure if it was a good idea – was your idea a warning not to do something or guidance to go forward with something.  The only way you can know is by consistently quieting your mind.  Trust yourself.  You can make the right decisions but you’ve got to be able to hear your intuition.

The noise is ramped up right now.  The news is loud and social media is deafening.  Meditation quiets all that.  It helps you know the difference between a negative emotion and a positive emotion.  The trick is to follow the ideas you get during those positive emotions.

To gain confidence in the unknown, trust yourself.  You’ve got this!

PS I meditate a lot.  This past week, some days I’ve meditated four times a day. 🙂  I have lots of ways to meditate depending on what I need.  Here are 3 of my favorites:

• My favorite mediation app is called Headspace – it has meditations for everything.
• I recently did a free 21-day meditation challenge hosted by Oprah & Deepak Chopra.  It seems like they have things like that occasionally and you can find out more here.
• Here’s a nice beginner meditation on YouTube – it’s only 15 minutes.