We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, an end in sight perhaps? So now we’ve adjusted to lockdown and got used to its ups and downs we’re busy thinking about what we’ll do when we ‘get out’. We talk about when all this is over, when we go back to normal.
But will we go back to normal, will we want to? What does normal even look like?
As we reflect on what we’ve learned what do we want to take forward into our post lock down life, what will be different? Do the kids need to have social activities to go to every evening? Do we need to get up at 6 am to commute to the office every day? Have we enjoyed having dinner as a family? What new routines have we adapted to and what have we missed?
Sometimes the downtime and perspective this kind of major event gives us means there’s a new normal waiting on the other side. We might have considered some bigger questions about life during this time:
· Do you like your bubble?
· Do you want to go back to your office?
· What bits of life did you miss?
· Which bits do you know realise didn’t matter as much as you thought?
· Who supported you, who didn’t you hear from?
It won’t just be life that changes, the economy, the way we travel, the way we gather in public and the jobs we’ll be doing may all change too in this new normal post lockdown. So many things to consider and over the last few weeks potentially the time and space to get some perspective on what really matters.
We might have noticed more gratitude for the things we have and reflected on what we’ve actually missed. Was it the shopping and meals out or seeing family and friends for example.
I’ve noticed as a nomad always planning the next trip and wanting to explore beyond my own back yard more about the space I call home, there’s less need in me to do more, go further, be somewhere other than where I am and I’ve found gratitude for the things I surround myself with at home.
But back to those bigger questions and realisations. When we go back ‘to normal’ or come out of the other side of this what do we want life to look like and what will we have learned?
For me there’s not much I’d change but that’s because I had my own Coiv19 type lockdown about 5 years ago from which everything changed. Let me tell you about that as many of you will be getting that opportunity now and potentially feeling the way I did then. This is a chance to get that perspective and look back in a few years time from a place you’d rather be.
I’d burnt out from a busy corporate career but at the same time trying to live a life I wasn’t aligned to. Mentally exhausted at age 30 my physical breakdown and the need to lock down came in the form of a ruptured cruciate ligament at a step class at the gym after work on my 31st birthday. This left me housebound and on the sofa and off work with more time to think than I’d had in years. The truth was during that time when I was forced to stop, be home, let go of busy and think I discovered:
· I was making a living not a life
· I didn’t belong in the bubble I found myself
· My job was sucking the life out of me
· I had no energy to do the things I really wanted
· My priorities seemed way of balance
· I wanted life to be different but at the same time realised I didn’t really know who I was and what I wanted
This lead to me considering what I wanted from life, what was important and what really mattered. What did I want my bubble to look like, what job would align to my values and passions and how would I be remembered once I’d gone (to clarify - the surgery wasn’t that serious that I had to contemplate death)!
So I gave it all up and started again. I wanted to rebuild a life around my passions and to find out if plan A wasn’t the answer, this dream of success, what was? I walked away from my long-term relationship, gave up my career in the corporate world and decided on a change of direction to follow my passion in writing and personal development.
I spent a year writing my first book and doing other things that made my heart sing, including visiting Bhutan, the country that operates gross national happiness (GNH) in place of gross domestic product (GDP). I taught English to Buddhist monks in Thailand, lived in ashrams and mindfulness centre across the globe, spent three years studying Buddhism and qualified as a life coach and a yoga teacher. I discovered myself, I came out and now five years down the track find myself running my own business, speaking on stage in front of huge crowds, the author of three books and about to get married.
This enforced lockdown was a catalyst to figure out life, get clear on what I wanted and then make it happen which has been my mission during the years since and subject of my books. It’s a long journey but it starts with stepping back, taking perspective and making the most of our covid19 moments.
If you’d like help making sense of your coiv19 moment and what the new normal looks like in your life going forward get in touch for coaching sessions