The news can be overwhelming….
There’s a lot going on in the world these days. The news can be overwhelming, with the elections, whatever shenanigans our government is saying and doing, and now fears around the coronavirus. There’s also many changes for people – friends and family passing on, divorces, issues with housing, issues with financial issues. It can be overwhelming.
In the midst of all of this, I’ve found several ways to help guide us through.
One way is to stay within yourself.
It’s very easy to match the energy of those around us. We might be matching the frenetic-ness of the political campaigns, and all the effort and hoop-la and arguments that the candidates are making. Sometimes you can almost feel the emotional stress underneath those candidates, and we can take that on.
We can also match the energy of fear around the spread of the coronavirus. The worst thing we can do is match that fear, because of course, then we attract more of that same fear to us, and we open ourselves up to the disease. And we can’t believe what the government is saying, so we go into a fear of the unknown. None of that is good.
Then we can get mad and sad about the corruption and incompetence of our own government. It seems to go on and on. Then we get to go through our day being mad and sad, and it influences our day. That’s not good either.
So what can we do? We can stay within ourselves, run our own vibration, and not allow ourselves to match the energy of fear or emotional stress around us. We can keep our boundaries up, not from fear, but from ownership of who we are. Then we can relax. After all, we know that we have the presence of God within us.
A second way to help guide us is to stay very, very present
A second way to help guide us is to stay very very present. It’s so easy to succumb to the stress of the unknown, or to our busy schedule, or to the future.
Last weekend I had a very busy schedule. I worked Thursday day and taught class Thursday night, then worked Friday day and went to a concert Friday night and got home late. Saturday I had a memorial to attend for most of the afternoon. Sunday I had a staff meeting, and then our fundraising dinner in the evening, which I hosted. During the evening, I needed to make a call to find out if I needed to do jury duty on Monday. I worried about having too much – having done everything else and then to do jury duty.
Whenever someone would remind me of all the things I needed to do that weekend, I found my attention moving into the future and into all of those events. I would start to get stressed out, wondering how I could manage it all. But then I said to that person, please stop talking about my busy schedule, I just need to stay where I am, I need to stay present. Everything calmed down, and I was able to manage everything just fine. Fortunately, I mocked up not having to do jury duty, and I was not selected.
Staying present solves a lot of problems.
The same principle applies to worrying about the coronavirus or about our political situation, or anything else. Going into “what ifs”, or “what could happen” and future time worries causes us to go into anxiety and stress. It’s important to keep our attention right where we are.
A third way to guide us through is to understand that we can help build community simply by our presence. We don’t need to isolate ourselves and feel we need to handle everything by ourselves. We can support others, even if it involves some effort, and it turns out that we support ourselves through that effort. Having a sense of community is very empowering.
The Friday night concert was Judy (on our staff) and Buck (her husband)’s family playing music – the four kids, each with their own style of music, sometimes playing with their own musicians, and sometimes playing together as a family group, including with Judy and Buck for a couple of tunes. I was tempted not to go, because I knew I was going to be busy, but I decided to go because I wanted to be there to support their family. I didn’t do anything in particular, just attended, and I know many people from here were also there. All of us supported their family, and we all ended up having a great time. And all of us attending helped to build a sense of community with their friends and with ourselves.
The memorial on Saturday was for the husband of Linda, a former staff member, who died of cancer on Christmas day. I did not know him well, in fact, I had only met him a few times at various events. But I did know Linda, and I went to support her. When we arrived at the memorial, she greeted us with a big hug and asked us to sit right behind her and help her stay grounded throughout the ceremony. We were happy to do that, as it was a very difficult time for her.
It was a wonderful event, and I learned so much about her husband and the beneficial impact he had on the lives of many people. There was also a lot of affirmation about the two of them, and about how much they loved each other. The event was full of really warm and welcoming people, the talks were joy-filled, and we helped them to support their community just by our presence. It might seem funny to say about a memorial, but we felt uplifted when we left.
On Sunday, we had a staff meeting and then the fundraising dinner at Lolo’s. It was a wonderful time and a real sense of community for all of us. A former staff member sat at my table and said, “Why do we do this only once a year, it’s such a great community.” And that’s true, this is a great community. And we all help to build our community by coming to events such as the dinner, but also by coming to church, or to the holiday party, as well as by doing the work of meditation and healing and getting to know each other through that process. Everyone gets to participate and feel that they belong.
Because we have been advised not to attend large gatherings and to take precautions due to the coronavirus, you might not be attending gatherings, but you can be aware of how your presence benefits others in various situations. It might be with a smaller group, such as a class, or just one or two individuals, but be aware of your presence and validate that you are present.
Say hello to being present in your life, and to participating in your own experiences.
So say hello to our world today, and then to yourself within. Give yourself permission to have that space within you. Say hello to being present in your life, and to participating in your own experiences. Say hello to being in support and community with others, simply by your presence, which then supports you in turn. Validate the God within you.
You can learn to let go of fear, and stay present, by attending the Step 1 Meditation Class at Psychic Horizons.
Best regards,
Rev. Laura Hopper
March, 2020