There are things in life we’d never think would touch us.

They are far, very far from us.

Often they are happening in a different country, like wars.

Even when they are not as far, we are still distant enough from what is unfolding.

We watch what happens to the world never ever imagining  it may soon be us next in line.

While I wonder from shop to shop this morning looking for fresh milk, it suddenly strucks me that I have been that person too.

I have been the one crying for the war refugees, the ones who lost their wealth , or those who suddenly faced imaginable tragedies.

I have sat on my sofa watching them from a safe distance on my TV screen.

“My heart bleeds for you, but better you than me!”.

I have been that person, yes.

But I bet I have not been the only one.

When hardship strikes from a far, we feel powerful enough to either ignore or help.

But when we are the ones in the midst of it, we may only want to shutdown.

What’s happening around us because of Covid-19 is both unprecedented (I bet you’ve heard this word few times lately) and life changing.

And I’m not entirely sure most of us even wanted our life to change, in the first place.

Still, change it must and so we are are left with just one thing to do: adapt.

Admittedly I have been afraid too.

It’s almost as if my mind suddenly turned off, leaving me unable to remember whatever I have learnt on my path through the years.

“Was it that that master taught me? And what did I learn in that course?”

Very little came to me, enough to get myself together every morning and go through the day.

Enough to think “tomorrow is another day!”

It’s only been in the last couple of days that I have been able to feel like myself again: strong within my spiritual practice.

A sudden surge of adrenaline suddenly kicked in, allowing me to sit and face my fears.

I have been staring at them without needing to hide or send them away.

And I have been sitting with them everyday since, for they are still there.

But I’m moving now, I’m not longer frozen.

My fears are there, in the background, while I learn how to adjust to an unknown future.

I don’t have to change this.

Instead I just need to give myself extra care and space to allow emotions to emerge and then go.

We are so afraid of being afraid that we often forget fear is only letting us know that we have moved away from our own wisdom.

When our mind clears and we are able to sit with ourselves and just be, suddenly there is an opening around our heart.

In that space, we find the strength and humility to be present even when it hurts and no much makes sense.

These are exceptionally confusing and trying days.

Our very soul is being stretched in ways which are both uncomfortable and painful.

And yet, there is so much more that our eyes can’t see right now.

I’m not to give you fluffy words anticipating a brand new world.

Instead I’m just going to say that right now, in this very moment, you & I have the opportunity to be better.

Do better.

Give more.

We were left to believe we were safe in a world that too often feels alien and hostile.

As everyone stops, we start seeing how much of what we grew up on was never real in the first place.

So I ask you today to consider this:

What if you suddenly realized that the life you are afraid to lose, perhaps was never big enough for you?

What if all the rushing and striving  had actually left you numb and unable to enjoy life itself?

While we adjust to this new time, many things will rise and many more will fall.

But what stays is our innate resilience and natural ability to create new life.

That is us, human beings, at their best.

Stay well dear friends, this too shall pass.

Antonia Lyons


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