If The Future Seems Overwhelming Right Now...

At the beginning of this pandemic I realized the emotions from my cancer experience were exactly the same. The biggest thing that I struggled with at that time was living with an uncertain future.You see no one could tell me the cancer wasn't going to come back or that it was really over.

Covid19 has landed us all into that uncertain world and as we face the next stage of our journey, we need a reminder of just how far we have come.

And look how far we have come, we have survived so far and have learnt to find ways to live each day to the best of our ability. To move forward we need to look back and remind ourselves of how we survived.

Think back to the first day of lock down If you were like me I'm sure the little voice went..."I’d never cope with that".

You’re here; so you did.

All of us have had a different experience through this time and of course it has varied from person to person but if you focus on today, you got out of bed this morning no matter how bad you were feeling. No matter how tough the past weeks have been something kept you going.

In other words you survived.

Ask yourself what that was, remind yourself of every little thing you did, Keep asking and keep focusing and you will use the tools you have accumulated to help with the next stage.

Survival is about little moments, if we focus on them, the bigger ones take care of themselves. If we keep looking into the future we will allow fear and "what if's" creep in.

Survival is getting up each day, putting one foot out on the floor, letting the other one follow and dealing with what that day brings. As each day begins find something to be positive about. You see no matter how bad things are there is always something to give thanks for.

As each day closes say to yourself, "well done me, I survived another day". As you focus on the little moments they will give you the strength and tools for the next one and so on and so on.

And of course we can't smile all the time so it really is important to vent our fears and concerns to someone we can trust. Being honest with your feelings, asking for help, and having a good cry are all acts of survival so don't ever apologize for having a bad day, you are more than entitled to.

To quote Eleanor Roosevelt.

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' Eleanor Roosevelt

Here's My Tool Box List

[ I dust it off every so often and re read and add to it as necessary !!!]

1; This is a marathon, not a sprint so I will be kind and gentle with myself.

2; Instead of focusing on what I can't control, focus on what i can.

3; Avoid information overload, and only use reliable sources for same

4; Laughter is the best medicine, read/ watch light-hearted movies, books.

5; Tap into anything creative because by tapping into that part of my brain it actually stops the over thinking. It really works!!!.

6 I'll cry if i want to, it’s ok to be afraid, be scared, worried.

7; It's ok to say it out loud, it might just help someone else feel less afraid, less alone, less worried.

8; This too shall pass.

9; Breathing properly is essential to my well being, long slow deep breaths.

10; I stay safe so that others can be safe too.