About Dealing With These Times. Also, Some Helpful Links.
For many of us, especially for those staying home in order to care for our communities, a sense of idle powerlessness has taken hold. Life is confusing right now. How do we gain some control? I donʼt have the answer to this, but Teddy Roosevelt did.
“Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt passed along these words in his autobiography. Itʼs good to recall them in May 2020.
In the midst of all this crushing trauma, the frustration and the sorrow, do what you need to do to take care of yourself. It helps no one to suffer in misery. Nobody on this earth right now who possesses a soul is absolutely happy. But it is OK to be happy, and to enjoy your day. Feed your spirit. Today this may mean for you to do absolutely nothing. Tomorrow it may mean taking one small step towards feeling less helpless.
Sometimes itʼs best to focus on the little things, for part of the day at least. If the weatherʼs not so great, a little yoga or jump rope, a bath, some tea, and a good book. Whatever one does to pamper oneself, even in some small way.
If you are in lock-down and are not an essential worker, and this includes parenting, you probably have time on your hands. How you fill your time is your choice. Perhaps daydreaming is your way. Itʼs perfectly all right to lay around and regret the fact that humans donʼt have tails. (And why donʼt we have tails, anyway? A nice rat-like tail would go perfectly with the human body.)
This is a great time to get all those projects around the house done, the ones which donʼt require outside help. Or you might be driven to start that novel at last, or finish up the art project. But at this time we are sheltering from a hail of assaults. Our health is at risk, in America our country is infested, people and our environment are suffering. Things will be better again. We will help make that happen. But right this very minute, itʼs also perfectly OK to read books, watch movies, and play games with friends online.
You will never control all the events that happen to you. But you have a great deal of influence over your own thoughts, and even more command of your actions. Be kind to your future self, and Future You will know that you did your best at the time.
“Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” ���Grandma Moses
Here are some random helpful links:
Plant native plants to work against climate change
How can I help my kids deal with this pandemic?
Little actions that you can take each day, in calendar format
How to donate safely, plus #4 has some ideas for actions
Put your computer to work helping scientists research in order to fight coronavirus (This is a known site.)
Source for TR quote: https://suebrewton.com/tag/do-what-you-can-with-what-you-have-where-you-are/
