I was cleaning the usual mess the kids leave behind in the playroom when I hear princess Elsa of Frozen fame singing "into the unknown". She sings with great passion, gusto and, of course, animation. Can you see what I did there? Hilarious.
What's not hilarious is that things don't feel so quite funny right now. In fact, for lots of us, it feels quite shit. We're upset and sad; then we can be hopeful, passionate and excited. This emotional rollercoaster is exhausting. So, why do we do it?
Why do we feel so all over the place? As soon as a little bit of goodness comes back, it's quickly replaced by dread and that horrible hollow feeling in our stomach.
Well, that's what Elsa was singing about in "Into the unknown". The unknown is often scary, but we can turn that fear into excitement most of the time. I'm sure for lots of you right now, though, it feels like there's no choice. As much as we want to feel better, it's just not happening.
It feels strong and real, like it's screaming within an inch of our face and inside our head with no letup other than when we finally get to sleep. Even then, it can follow us in our dreams. The unknown future is so damn scary and hard right now. That flicker of hope we were already just about clinging onto is fading fast, and the fire that we once had to get up and go on a rainy day is next to non-existent. To make matters worse, we find it too hard to imagine if it will ever come back.
But here's the thing, it will come back. Maybe right now, we have to sit with it and trust ourselves to live with the feeling for a bit. Trust yourself and believe in yourself to get through it.
I understand it's tough. It feels next to impossible right now. Keep in mind, though, that's right now. It is something called emotional reasoning. I feel bad, so it must be bad. Don't get me wrong; things are hard, or at least difficult. But there is still lots to be thankful for. It isn't easy to see that at the moment.
I am not going to say, "stop feeling sorry for yourself". That's not very useful right now. Try and make an effort to acknowledge the fact that you are here. You are breathing. Then focus on that breath and help steady it.
Kindly talk to yourself. Talk in a trusting way to show belief in yourself. Help yourself sit with all those shitty feelings going on right now, and just like Elsa, with passion and gusto, tell yourself I will get through this. You will.
Yes, it will be challenging, but it will be so worth it. You will be so proud of yourself for not giving up.
So, please keep it simple; make the moves. Be kind to yourself by trusting and believing in yourself to get through this.
