Hmmmm! What’s your perspective on THE WORLD? This photo caught my attention. The headline is a grabber isn’t it – THE WORLD IS temporarily CLOSED. Is it?
First, there is the BIG WORLD. Our global world filled with the pandemic, social turmoil, politics, the economy, deep questions of whether schools go virtual or not, the baggage of our society with inequalities, social justice, do you wear a mask or not and do you beat up the person that does or doesn’t……..This is a small slice of what’s happening. It seems our BIG WORLD is very much open in a way that is different than what we’ve known in our lifespans, and it creates stress for each of us in a different way — whether we know it, acknowledge it, or not.
Then, there are the GROUPS OR ORGANIZATIONS in the BIG WORLD of which we are a part. What’s happening with your college or national sports team, your local restaurant or movie theatre that you USED to frequent regularly? Or perhaps, what’s happening in organizations you are a part of that are suddenly forced to operate in a whole new way! What change does that bring to you? Has this brought change to where and when you do things? Does this change why you do things and what you do?
And lastly is your INDIVIDUAL WORLD. This is everyday life for each of us. We hear: ‘when I get BACK to normal’, the ‘new normal’, the ‘future normal’. News flash – there is no going back! Life each day, our normal, is shaped by what we choose to make of it!
For each of us, our individual worlds are not closed by any stretch of the imagination. I think we’ll agree that things have certainly changed being filled with events that may be foreign to us and could illicit a whole range of possible emotions from sheer terror to complacency and then peace. Change is proven to bring a sense of loss and grief because something ended in the way we used to know it. With that ending, there is also the fact that something new has begun that again may illicit a whole range of emotions. Whether we are consciously aware or not, there is stress going on related to all this change. Stress that pervades our health and wellbeing in positive and or negative ways if we let it.
So, what do we do about this? The BIG WORLD is in fact OPEN as are the ORGANIZATION, GROUP and INDIVIDUAL worlds we live in if we choose to see it that way. We hope you try guided, personal journal writing as a way to support you in deciding what you want and need to do.
I wonder what the World Theater in the photo is up to. Are they embracing this time as an opportunity to renovate while ‘temporarily closed.’ Are they implementing plans for a totally new experience for its patrons in their community — or what??
I wonder what you are choosing for your INDIVIDUAL WORLD. Are you choosing to board up and shut down or are you open to exploring what matters to you, setting an intended path and choosing to fully open YOUR WORLD? We’d love to hear your comments. Think about it — life is a gift, and that’s why it is called ‘the present’ – why not open it up!
Try writing, in response to these questions.
- Are you waiting for THE WORLD to re-open just like the theater in the photo suggests?
- Are you choosing to be a victim of the change that is occurring? What does this look like and how do you feel?
- Or, are you choosing to renovate how you operate in your world by envisioning your future despite the permanent white water you may feel like you are swimming in?