Handling It?
human being, so having somewhere to shift my energy keeps me going.
But after that, then what...when the weeks became a month, then two, then three? As someone who spends the majority of her time on the road, I found this time at home increasingly worrying. Having speaking engagements canceled and postponed begins to wear on your mind. The same with rodeos. I know
I’m supposed to be a beacon of light for many others, but this was getting hard.
Then, too, on a bigger scale, our world was becoming more worrying. Sickness spreading through our towns and states, across the country. Panic causing selfishness with worldly items of toilet paper, Lysol wipes, and flour! People disagreeing over misunderstandings, or taking sides in a way that causes hate and grief. Neighbors, friends, and even family turning on one another.
Why do I share all this? Because
I’m human. I’m a woman, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a working member of society, a citizen, a victim, a leader, a paraplegic, a speaker, a cowgirl, an American. I understand frustration, pain, and loss. I feel for those who struggle. I relate to someone who’s upset or hurt or lonely. We all do.
There’s so much going on in the world right now that we can’t control. Sometimes it feels like us against the world. But we need to take a step back, because we’re all in the same storm. We’re all trying to survive. We’re just in different boats.
Readers, I challenge you to change the perspective with me. Let’s begin by looking at our circumstance as something that’s happening for us rather than to us. Let’s encourage those around us to continue to chase their goals. Let’s find the moment of happiness in every day, even when times are bleak. Let’s enjoy birds chirping and flowers blooming.
Let’s set personal goals in areas we can control. Let’s find new skills we didn’t know we had. Let’s spread love over hate.
Let’s show empathy and kindness to those who’re also hurting. Let’s continue to move forward.
I’ve always told myself: Either be ripe and rotting or green and growing. Now is the time to see which you will be. I’m not saying you can’t have bad days; we all do. But that too shall pass. And where you’ll be when it does will depend on the choices you make today.