Being kind to yourself right now

Here in England, we’re progressing out of our latest lockdown next Monday. We’ll all be able to get our hair cut (if you can get booked in!), go to the gym (my other half is very happy about that!), shop for clothes, have some coffee and cake outside a cafe.

These are big changes for many of us that have gotten through the last year.

So, why are you feeling anxious about it? Well, I’m going to suggest something that you might not have said to yourself

“because we’re all in the middle of a global frickin’ pandemic!”

None of us are superhuman and we’re all dealing with massive and horrendous changes in our routines and lives. When clients and friends of mine have had a go at themselves for not “coping” or not being on top of everything over the last year, I’ve reminded them of this little fact 🙂

Acknowledge your mixed emotions

You’re not alone! So much has changed over the last year and we’ve each had our own individual experiences of getting through a pandemic. Some people can’t wait to meet up with friends again and feel like they’re getting “back to normal”. Other people just aren’t ready yet for big crowds, clothes shopping, just too many people.

For me personally, this past year has had major ups and downs including two family friends dying of Covid and building my coaching and training business with a lot of online networking. Walking the same old paths around Brighton and staring longingly at the South Downs that I’ve not been able to get to as I don’t have a car and kept to the law of no non-essential travel.

I went for a walk along the seafront this morning and it was cold but sunny so there weren’t too many people out and about. I do some of my best thinking walking and watching the sea.

So, I sat down on the beach after my walk and I said to myself, “it’s okay, I’m human.”

So, I’m saying this to you right now too. However you’re feeling about coming out of lockdown,

“it’s okay, you’re human.”

Me right now

I can acknowledge that I’m beyond happy about cafes serving outdoors again so I can get back to hot choc and cake, either with my writing notebooks or a friend. But I’m also nervous of big crowds of people.

I can acknowledge that my world in the last year has both shrunk (getting much more particular with my boundaries and who I want to see and when) and has also massively grown (getting to collaborate and meet such incredible women through my business).

We’re not one thing, each of us is a mass of emotions, beliefs, opinions and it’s okay to recognise that.

I don’t have the answers for how to get through the next stage of coming out of lockdown here in England. There is no perfect answer to this. But, beating yourself up for feeling a mix of emotions or not being happy about seeing people again won’t help you be the bestest friend that you are trying to be to yourself. Instead, however you feel about it – excited, nervous, scared, frightened, happy, not bothered; recognise that emotion, acknowledge it and say to yourself, “it’s okay, I’m human.”