A few weeks ago, my sister texted me reminding me that as a family, that day, we were supposed to all be together, on vacation. Only, a few weeks before that, I had to cancel our reservations because the shelter in place orders for where we were to stay would still be in effect for our trip. Sure, we could stay in our hotel, but there would be no pool, no restaurant, and many of the attractions we were planning to visit would still be closed.
You can’t tell four kiddos under five that the pool is closed.
You can’t walk them by the kiddie water park that looked so cool on the hotel website, and tell them they can’t play in it. Or at least, who would want to when you’re supposed to be on vacation? I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell our nieces and nephew. Only this summer, how many of us adults, are feeling like the kids in this story, staring through the fence at what they can’t have?
For many of us, our kiddie pool is closed.
Our concert was postponed. Vacations with family or on our own have been cancelled. Our traditional holiday cookouts have to look different. The community pool is closed for the season. And all of these things, are just the icing on the cake of 2020, that feels like it’s been dropped on the floor and stepped in.
All of these things, are just the icing on the cake of 2020, that feels like it’s been dropped on the floor and stepped in.
Jobs have been lost. Visiting older or compromised family members has become difficult. Friends have felt distant as our usual routines have been messed up. All while tensions over racism and politics have seemed to bubble up and over. I’m hopeful change will finally come for the former, but I can’t same the same for the latter.
How do you keep going, when all these things continue to be hard?
What do you do, when even the simple things like going to the community pool or getting away for a week, were the very things you were looking forward to the most? The very things that kept you hanging on? And how do we navigate another wave of grief, when we already feel worn down?
Though the opening up of restaurants and businesses, has felt promising, our lives are still very much in crisis. This season hasn’t yet passed. True it’s now summer, but the warmer weather is just another reminder that our lives aren’t what they should be.
Our lives are still very much in crisis. This season hasn’t yet passed.
It kind of reminds me of the first time I got bronchial pneumonia. I was in ninth grade. My mom took me to the doctor and I thought he’d give me some antibiotics and I’d be back at school in a day or two. Only I was right about the first part, but not the second. I was out of school for two weeks. To a very social teenage girl, it felt like eternity.
Spoiler alert: I survived.
But in the same way, you and I have survived all kinds of things. Situations that felt impossible at the time, are things we don’t even think about today. Though this Pandemic is still altering our lives indelibly, we will find our way through. The key to surviving and even growing through this time of grief and struggle, is to draw upon all the things that have brought us through our previous trials.
Though this Pandemic is still altering our lives indelibly, we will find our way through.
For me, this has looked like praying, a lot. My faith has always been an anchor for me when the world around me has felt anything but firm. I’ve found I’ve experienced the goodness of God the most, when I seek Him in the darkest of times. And when I am able to surrender the things I don’t have any control over (not seeing my dad, cancelled vacations, etc.), He always seems to provide a way to make things more bearable.
All of us have the ability to persevere in the midst of struggle. All of us have the resources to make the most of this difficult time, and to hold on to the hope that it will pass. And if we don’t, or we feel like our resources are getting low—we need to reach out to those around us. There are people who will help us. They will either be our resource or help us discover the practices we need to us keep going during this time. Though our summer plans are just one more example of all that we’ve lost this season, I believe we will come through this better than we were before.
What is your anchor when the world around you is shaken?
What healthy practices (prayer, journaling, exercise, etc.), are helping you get through this time?
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Photo by Toni Cuenca from Pexels
