Not Another Manic Monday

“ I Love Mondays: 1. A fresh start; 2. The chance to set a new tone for the rest of the week., 3. A great day to be alive!”

            It’s Monday on Week 4 of Quarantine Life.  How’s everyone holding up?  Today feels kind of heavy for me.  It’s like we had this auspicious holiday yesterday that usually uplifts and is a time for resurrection.  Today is Monday.  Nothing has changed for the most part. It’s a lot of just taking one day at a time and waiting and seeing. Does this mean we have to be glum?  No, we can turn this around.  Let’s start right here and now.

            Yes, we are in uncertain times.  Yes, we have no clue what the future holds but I, for one, am ready to make some changes in my life.  The frustrating thing is I’m ready now, but the world is closed down and I can’t leave the house. Where does this leave me?  With time to craft these changes so that they are the best decisions yet.  It also gives me time to work on my goals and dreams.  We are all on this carousel of uncertainty, but we can make the best of these times and think about what we want, instead of what we don’t want.

            Honor your feelings and emotions right now. We are all dealing with certain stages of grief, frustration and for me, the other day, anger.  Like hot, red anger.  I breathed my way through it, recognized what it was and pushed it out of my sphere.  It will come back.  I’m certain but I won’t try and stuff it down. I’ll reach in, look it right in the eye and see what in my life needs to be changed in order to move it through.  I have some great meditation tools that I am happy to share with you!

            We can make little shifts here and there that amount to a big result.  Small is the new big!  If we try and make big changes right now, we are most likely setting ourselves up for a failure and that won’t help in this day and age.  Focus on the solutions instead of the problem.  What action steps can you take today to start moving you towards that ultimate goal?  Some folks have been asking me lately what their ultimate goal is. I can’t answer that for you but can give you some tips and tools.  For example, what is something that keeps coming to mind whilst in house arrest?  Do you fixate on HGTV shows (okay I do)?  Maybe that’s where your career lies.  There are all aspects of real estate that you can go into.  There’s house flipping, buying, selling, renovations, mortgages, etc.  If you keep coming back to this channel again and again, guess what?  You most likely have a passion for all things real estate. Start researching what that would take as a career instead of watching so much of it on television.

            Listen, I get it. I’m here with you during this quarantine. I’m feeling the feelings, shifting the thoughts and processing the grief and anger like most of you are.  It’s great to process feelings but just don’t unpack your bags there.  Keep it moving.  Watch them as if they are movie and say thank you, thank you, next.  We can either be victims or victors in this thing called life. Which group do you want to be in?

Until My Next Adventure,

Trish Walker

Park City, UT

Check out my “Act As If” program at my website www.trishwalker.us.  Set yourself up for success on the other end of world events.  Who do you want to be when we step into our new normal?

Hope Vs: Hopeless: Navigating a Whole New World

Note: It’s been a very long time since I have put up a new blog post. With the events going on in the world, I’m suddenly finding myself feeling more creative and with new priorities. My writing is bubbling to the surface and I’m wanting to reach out to the world! Stay tuned over the next few weeks as I chronicle life inside of my stay-at-home bubble. I pray that each and every one of you is happy and healthy.

“When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening.  That’s where your power is.” - Unknown

It’s been three weeks of being homebound now while we navigate this time in history of a pandemic.  All of us are vacillating between moods. Yesterday it was one of those nap days. There seemed to be a heavy energy in the air, and I couldn’t identify what it was until later in the evening when I was on a call with my good vibe tribe.  Everyone on the call was feeling the same mood.  It was one of those moments where we have to make the decision to either give up or get back in the game.  We don’t know when this is going to end. That part right there is enough to do someone in.  However, we have a choice to act as if… this will end. I’m not sure when but again, who do I want to be on the other end of it?

The creative ideas for me have been flowing in at a constant rate.  Yesterday I could hardly pick up my hand to write them down.  I took a nap, went for a walk and danced around the ideas all day, finally giving up and going to bed.  However, this morning I actually woke up with an twinge of excitement.  I thought about all the cool things I would be implementing when “this” was over, and we were back to a new normal. We aren’t going back to the old, we are stepping into the new and for some, that brings grief. For me, that brings nostalgia and grief.  I caught myself this morning wishing I could just go over and stroll the aisles of TJ Maxx and see the lady who constantly badgers me to sign up for the Rewards card because I can save 10% off my purchases.  Why did I ever take her for granted? 

This is a moment like no other in history. It’s a moment to dig deep and make big personal choices around how you want to operate the rest of your life.  You can sit around and say, I now have the time to write that book. Yet you don’t pick up the pen and then go back to your Netflix watching.  You can actually get up and write that book and think about when you can publish it, plan your book tour etc.  If we get excited about something, it makes the day go by so much faster and by being more creative, you are actually boosting your immune system.

Each day I am learning to let go of more and more.  It’s not my business how others are coping.  It’s not my obligation to fix everyone.  What I can do in my lane is show folks tips and tools on how to use this time to the fullest. There are gifts in this time at home.  Spring cleaning, bonding with kids, learning new ways of communication that help immensely when you are quarantined with someone who you don’t usually see a lot.  We have been able to have family meetings and air out some old things to make room for new ways of doing things.

What can you do today to step into a new way of doing things?  Can you list the attributes of where you want to live next?  Can you visualize a new way of working your business?  I saw an amazing example of that yesterday. A recruiting company had quickly shifted to helping small business owners navigate the ins and outs of getting funding from the government stimulus package. In two days they had completely re-worked their business model into something that will most likely bring them in even more revenue. That’s so brilliant.

With these new times, feeling like you “have” to go big and create something new can be daunting or make you feel guilty if you don’t write the next great American novel. Stop that right now. Your “new” way may just be forgiving someone who you think wronged you. It could be learning to cook a new dish. People operate in different ways. Do not go into comparison or shame but just this about how you want to walk out the other end of this. If you are, indeed, sitting around watching Netflix all day, how will your system react when you have to get up and go back to your office. All good things to think about.

 Folks, I urge you to reach way down inside and find that inner strength I know you have.  Don’t numb yourself.  Start a creative project. Find a new passion and hobby. As always, if you need a check-in or want to chat about your next right steps or how to navigate these times, do not hesitate to contact me through my website at www.trishwalker.us.

Until My Next Adventure,

Trish Walker

Park City, UT.