Mindful Monday: One Year Later

We are mere days away from hitting the one year mark. 

On March 13, 2020, EVERYTHING changed. It was the last day that perhaps life felt "normal" and maybe even a little predictable. And while it's been a full calendar year, don't feel like you should be used to all of this by now. Don't feel like you should have life during a pandemic figured out. 

I love this quote for a variety of reasons. First, I absolutely believe that comparison is the thief of joy. And second, we all process stress, crises and grief differently. You REALLY can't compare your insides, how you are dealing and coping with life as we currently know it, to others' outsides, the facade that they choose to share with others, as we never truly know what may be going on "behind the curtain". 

So please don't beat yourself up if you feel like you don't have it all together, if you feel like this pandemic is getting the best of you, if you feel like the walls are crumbling around you.  If this last year is not what you envisioned for yourself, you're not alone. If you are grieving over what was, what could have been and what you have lost, you're not alone. If you have found yourself in a constant state of being overwhelmed, you're not alone. 

There are five stages of grief. And while we'd like to think of it as a step-by-step process that you work your way through, it's simply not true. At the very least, it's a messy complicated process. Perhaps you think that you have been slowly working your way towards acceptance, and then you wake up one day and find yourself back at the anger stage. It's okay!

Wherever you find yourself, it's okay. Whatever headspace you may be in, it's okay.

Just don't forget that you can't compare your insides to other people's outsides, and mostly importantly, you're not alone.