My 80-year-old mother started a new saying a few years ago, when things felt crazy:
‘The world is on fire!’
And quite literally, the global pandemic has been a catalyst for highlighting old disputes and igniting new ones, throughout the world. Fear and paranoia reigns and tears through communities and nations. Our humanity and planet seem to be at some kind of precipice, staring down at an abyss where no one knows a clear way forward.
To reiterate my question – what have you decided for your way forward? Have you had the time and head space to give it some serious consideration? Many have agreed and voiced their realisation that the old way is not working. For me, it’s been about focusing on what really matters to me. My own mid-life crisis has taken my yearning for simplicity to the forefront. This does not only imply a decluttering of stuff (am doing that too) but also in terms of how I relate to my world and the people in my life. A question I ask myself always is this, is whatever I am dealing with or having to consider, going to take toward or away from the simple life I am pursuing? This has not been an easy process and it continues to be a struggle to cut out all the noise from the fear and paranoia, including our own, the news, the government, list goes on.
Now if one dumps all that comes with mid-life on top of all of this – the physical changes in our bodies, the brain fog and loss of memory, the rage at others and oneself for the past – at times doing life feels like an impossible feat. Hence, the need for the support of a community which shares our struggles. My fellow mid-lifer friends and clients have become an invaluable network of beautiful souls where we listen without judgement. God knows, as women, we do enough self-flagellation! Times like these I reach out to my tribe. Now is NOT the time to shut down and withdraw even though that may be what we tend to want to do. If you have not started sharing your struggles with a good friend, do so, and keep the conversation going.
For me, it seems logical to take a very deliberate and conscious approach. I’ve developed a morning mental ritual of reminding myself to enter into my day with simplicity at the core of my goals for the day. I’ve found it an empowering tool. Depending on what you have at the core of the life you would like to live, slowing down and taking the time to think carefully about things is paramount.
Particularly, if we want to survive the now, and find ourselves in a future where we are thriving.