How are you doing? How are you really doing after 18 months into the pandemic? We have all experienced (hopefully) a once in a lifetime event and to say it has been challenging would be an understatement.  I think one of the most frustrating things we have all experienced has been the feeling of uncertainty.

One of the tools I have used to help myself manage all the uncertainty of this pandemic is meditation. I can proudly say it is one of my early morning habits that I have developed to get my day off to the best start. I use the 10% Happier App to help with guided meditations.

One of the meditation teachers, Oren Jay Sofer, wrote this article on Coping with Uncertainty and it was a lightbulb moment for me. Click here to read it.

I never gave it much thought before but “uncertainty is the underling reality of life”.  Nothing is predictable in life and I found these past few months I have been trying to predict when it will be safe to return to travel. After reading this article, I think I will stop stressing myself out and just work on getting the best prepared and be ready for when we can get back on the road.

Sofer makes a great analogy about a boat at sea: “This isn’t about disconnecting or cutting ourselves off from what we feel. Rather, it’s about keeping an even keel when the seas are rough. If you imagine a boat in a storm, you’ll realize that it doesn’t stay perfectly level. It rocks and sways with the swells. Having a keel doesn’t mean we don’t feel moved by the changes of life. It means that when the big waves come, our boat doesn’t capsize. Maintaining perspective helps us to roll with the waves and with each swell. It brings us back to a quiet knowing deep in our heart and helps us return to upright, to find our center again.”

So, if you are feeling uncertain about what’s next in this pandemic, just remember, this is but one obstacle in a series of obstacles that you have faced and conquered in your life. You have risen to the challenge in the past and you will again. In 5 or 10 years, we will all look back at this time of our life and take comfort that we not only survived this pandemic, we also learned that we were stronger than we thought. We will look back at this time we are living through and wear it as a badge of honor. Something we can tell our grandchildren someday.

What ways have you managed the uncertainty of this pandemic?

-John