One Day at A Time — Reset

In late winter we watched a virus migrate around the globe. We saw our lives became more complex but at the same time forced to be simplified. This event, as do many, caused me to write.

I realized early on that what we were facing was not something I could sprint through but that this was going to be a long, arduous journey. In an effort to make it less threatening and to communicate a visual that I could embrace, I framed this collective experience using the metaphor of running a marathon.

Unlike real marathons, this was an unplanned event for which no one had been trained. I started to interview people to see if the marathon metaphor resonated with them. I asked, “How are you going to run the race, go the distance having not prepared?” I loved their answers and the interaction. It gave me fuel and inspiration for making my path through uncertainty.

I continued to write and interview friends, family, colleagues, and clients. I asked them, “Having been forced into a future that was unplanned, what are you taking with you, what must you leave behind, and for what are you grateful? “

I found stories of great effort, sacrifice, helping hands, and thoughtful deliberation — all tainted with fear and courage.

I hear this question differently now as during the pandemic the west coast experienced traumatic and expansive wild fires. In just moments, residents needed to make these same decisions — what to take and what to leave. In addition they need to find the grace to live through their terrible loss.

It has been more than six months of social distancing and mask wearing, of resistance and confusing information, of fractiousness and unity, of social upheaval and community building, and political sidedness; all being played out in the 24-hour-news cycle and social media. Some individuals with whom I speak spend significant time with the television or news playing in the background. Some cannot watch the news any more. Some escape by binge-watching series on their streaming devices. Others take themselves into the woods.

After some three months, I felt this was not just a test of physical endurance test but was a test of mental stamina and my ability to keep my attitude in check. Friends told stories about hitting their emotional walls and witnessing acting-out behavior. The observer in me started to gather stories about how people were ‘keeping their heads on straight’.

Every phase of this experience requires a reset.

I know how to play the long game. But most of our lives are played out in sprints.

When pregnant, a woman and her family live through nine-months of wondrous incubation. If trying to lose weight, stop smoking, or getting clean the effort takes months if not years of effort. There is the cliché, “Precious things are worth waiting for and working for.” So, I know that we have gone and can go the distance; but we have lived so long in a sense of immediacy and instant gratification, that we may have lost the perspective of patience.

The mantra I speak to myself daily is, ‘One day at a time….done with kindness.’ I try to reign myself in and just be present for what and who is in front of me and to maintain a positive continence. It takes all my focus to do so each day.

While I was working, striving to contribute positively and with helping hands, I ignored the signals in my body and mind that were trying to let me know that stress was accumulating; that a new pace for the race was required.

I have experienced burnout many times in my life. Moderation is not a gear I know how to operate well. I thought I had acquired enough self-awareness to avoid the ditch again. But not so. Burnout is sneaky. It layers upon itself until it stops you cold.

Just as I experienced my burnout accident and spent a week in bed and with a zombie head, I started to read blogs that were referring to the increase of this phenomenon in the workplace. I realized that we had entered another phase of this radical adventure in our humanness.

So another series begins.

This time, I am asking individuals if they are experiencing a sense of burnout. If so, what does it look like, feel like, and act like? And how are they going to create a path for their recovery?

The next set of blogs will be what I learn from these conversations.

Please feel free to contribute your thoughts.

There is more road ahead of us and we are needed on the other side. What are you doing to stay fit, mentally healthy, and still feel all the many emotions that are filling this experience?

Are you having a reset moment?

 At this point you would expect to see another quotation.

Today, however, I  have one of my video blogs I’d like you to take a look at. It’s about a similar concept.

I hope you enjoy it. Just click on the picture below.

Leslie