If you are like most of the people in our practice, never in a million years would you have expected that 2020 would bring a period of time where you would have a stay-at-home order.
After all, isn’t this the land of the free?
With so much flexibility, most of us have taken for granted our ability to come and go as we please. By being forced to stay home, many of us against our will has put many of us in a position to have to truly examine ourselves in a way that we may not have previously. Whether you identify as an introvert or extrovert, being forced to stay at so home can be overwhelming.
Many people have been encouraged to start new ventures in their “free time” Examples include starting a business… writing a book… or doing some other long-term that they have not had the time to fulfill.
But working through this time is not for everyone…
To the contrary, this time can, and should, also be used to support you in your journey toward self-discovery.
But since this is new for you (and everyone else) you likely don’t know where to start.
Here are some tips to help you get there.
Meditate every day. Many people are overwhelmed at the thought of meditating because they think it has to have some level of sophisticated commitment and most of us are way too distracted by our thoughts to make any sophisticated commitments to this effect. But many people fail to realize that with just a few minutes each day, you can gather your thoughts in a way that you can truly get in tune with yourself. If doing so independently is challenging, I invite you to engage in adult coloring and/or journaling exercises to help clear your mind. Not only will you be able to get more intimate with yourself, but you will produce something beautiful in the end, even if the process is painful. (Be sure to check our resources for adult coloring and journaling support).
Identify a new craft. If you find that journaling or adult coloring is not sufficient, YouTube has tons of resources to help you to get creative. I recently worked with my daughter to create a unique container for her to store her snacks with. I simply took an old, small teddy bear, cut off the head, remove some of the stuffing, and super glued and old jar on the inside. Then, I glued the head to the lid. This was a fun and interactive exercise that I could do that was more about bonding with my daughter, then about the craft, and in the long run we connected more to each other. By doing this, we got a chance to experience her in a way that I had simply been too busy to experience her with when life was much busier.
Here is a great channel for 5-minute craft ideas
Spending time with my daughter helped me realize how important it was to mend broken relationships. There are people that I had lost contact with by being engaged in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Taking a moment to be with myself has provided me with the insight and awareness of the people in the relationships that are really valuable to me, many of whom I took for granted when life was more hectic. Through quarantine, I’m permitted with the opportunity to look at life more differently and invest in those neglected relationships, thereby, learning about myself which has been a great consequence.
Read a new book. Find a new blog. Find a new YouTube station. Find a new Instagram/Facebook influencer to follow. Gone are the days when we could only get valuable information from A-list celebrities. Today you have access to resources from people just like you who could really change your life. By accessing people locally, modeling their success becomes more obtainable for you, and therefore helps you to realize that you can be successful as well by tapping into your own talents.
Finding yourself can be one of the most challenging things to do. But one of the gifts that you can take from this quarantine, is the ability to do just that. If you would like SUPPORT to help support you on your journey to self-discovery please contact us today.
