APRIL
Days stretching longer
The heat of the sun, stronger
Signs that nature is being reborn
Life is fresher
Opening up like a blossom
Awakening
An invitation to aliveness
Breathe it in
Life
Hope
Creation
Possibility
Beginnings
Beauty
Chantal Plowman
April usually brings with it Spring Break, Easter, holidays, outdoor activities. This year April brings uncertainty, fear and isolation. I don't want this. I don't want to be separate from people. It feels like being separate from life. And yet we are told it is necessary to preserve life for many on our planet. So I will do my best, like everyone else in the world. I am proud of us for doing things we never thought we would - wearing masks, staying away from friends and life outside our homes, putting a pause on the future. We don't know when life will be normal again, if ever. We will not be the same again because these are unprecedented times.
I think about the things I am missing and wonder if I will ever take them for granted again. Things like Sunday family dinners with my parents and my husband's parents, meeting my book club, running with a friend, going our for dinner or lunch, watching my kids' hockey games. I realize now how many people I used to see in a day or in a week. I miss that. I miss them. I miss dreams of holidays and adventures. I miss the feeling that all is well for me and my loved-ones. I miss a general sense of my world's prosperity and advancement.
And this is how it is right now. So what is my choice in this. None of this situation is my choosing, but there is still choice in it. I can choose how I want to use this time. I can choose how I will be in this time, how I will show up for myself and others. I am focussing on what I can do. I am setting new intentions and following through with them and that feels great. I am eating well, sleeping well, exercising daily, spending a lot of time with my family - all my time actually. We are playing games, watching movies, organizing. We are going for walks and having real conversations. I am helping everyone in the family learn to cook. I am still coaching my clients, which makes me grateful for a deep sense of purpose.
Last week I connected with a colleague who wanted to try my experiment of writing a book in a week. We had several calls over the week where I gave her the structure and support that worked for me and now I am basking in the glow of her great accomplishment of writing her book. I feel so rewarded and privileged to participate in this inspirational achievement as her coach.
Wonderful, beautiful things can still be born in this time. Perhaps the greatest outcome of this challenging time is how we, The World, are coming together in ways never imagined before. Cooperation between countries in a common effort to survive and come up with creative solutions for our common challenges is hopeful. And we are having to be present, with no certainty of the future (and there never really was). There is only the present. The modern wisdom so commonly espoused of "being in the moment," "being in the now," is what this virus is forcing us to do. It is giving us the "now." It is giving us time. What will we choose to do with it?
For me, I am so inspired by my client that I am going to write another book! And I would love to coach anyone else that feels a calling to share a message or story with the world. And if it is not writing a book that excites you, maybe it's something else. What is calling you now that will connect you to a sense of purpose. Whatever it is, DO IT! I want that for you. I want that for me. I want that for the WORLD! If you need help figuring out what that is and getting started, contact me. I would be delighted to support you!
Or share any ideas you have below in the comments or in our Weekly ONE Thing Facebook Group or on Facebook or any other social media. I look forward to reading your posts!
When you shine your light, you inspire others to do the same. We are in a dark time, but when we each shine our light, the world is illuminated.