helplessness

I have been thinking a lot about you, whether you’re an active reader of my weekly emails, or perhaps the casual blog reader of content on my website. I try and provide you with a sense of direction, a sense of peace, and hopefully give you a jump start in the middle of your weekly schedule. As we continue to deal with the effects of the pandemic, I have been drawn more deeply into thinking: how are YOU genuinely doing?

How are you right now? Are you safe, are you healthy? Are you struggling and facing great difficulties in your life? How is your family doing? How about your finances?

I am asking about how you’re doing, because I am mindful of how I’m doing, and the experience I am most aware of, is missing face to face, heart to heart, real life and real live human touch. I welcome the opportunity for that to be back in all of our lives.

And so, this weeks blog post isn’t about guidance, it isn’t about my teachings that I might want to guide you through. This week is about connection, it’s about reaching out for that “human touch” that our society has missed so dearly.

If you could, I would love if you reached out to me in some manner of sorts and let me know how you are. You can send me an email, you can follow my Facebook page and send me a message, or below is a link to my Facebook group, where you can reach me.

Thinking of you, and wishing you well.
Dr. Joan Rosenberg

Join my group on Facebook LOVE MY LIFE and let me know.  Feel free to share my series with your friends or colleagues as well.

How can you use this time to take stock in yourself, self-reflect, and work on the changes you’ve always wanted to work on?

It may feel like our world has been separated into two parts: pre-COVID19 and now. And as I have been reflecting on what things were and what could be, I wanted to share with you a perspective that you can use as it relates to the future.

When I’ve gone through challenging times in my life – and this COVID-19 experience counts as one – I use what I call “resilience thinking”. One main focus is to turn every life experience I have into a learning experience to grow me. Right now, I’ve been asking myself, “How can I use this this COVID-19 time to bring out the best in me?”.

If you can use this experience to grow you, that’s awesome! Yet, if you believe or feel like you’ve accomplished all that you’ve dreamed of or desired, perhaps you’ve noticed that there’s a part of you that keeps nudging you toward whatever is next.

As I’ve made my way through life, I, too, have always desired more. I didn’t want to have more things in a physical sense; instead, my aim was to become a better person: more knowledgeable, more thoughtful, more generous, and more loving.

As human beings, we are always seeking a freer, fuller, more expanded version of ourselves and that life is always seeking its fuller expression through us.

Take some time here and really think about how this might manifest itself in your life. Consider the following questions:

1. How do you want to live your life once we start our new normal?

2. If you weren’t truly living the life you loved, what would it look like if you could?

3. What would your health it look like?

4. What would your relationships look like – romantic, family, or otherwise?

5. What would you be doing with your time?

As you start to begin your journey in to the world after this pandemic, I would encourage you to take stock in how you lived your life before, so that you can work on the things that you want to change in the future.

Join my group on Facebook LOVE MY LIFE and let me know.  Feel free to share my series with your friends or colleagues as well!

To A Life You Love,

Dr. Joan Rosenberg

Understanding feelings of helplessness while cooped up at home.

I’m wondering if you’re like me and more ready for a transition back outside the home, and into a community and city you recognize.

While staying inside is the healthy, safe, and smart practice to follow, I can empathize and understand that the stresses of being constantly indoors can be difficult. You maybe facing taking care of children, the stress of not being able to work, or the loss of attending events you had planned over the past couple months or even well into the future – sort of a loss imagined futures. Those are real losses too.

It’s possible that many of your plans have been upended with the ongoingness of “sheltering in place”, and that being in place with less to do has triggered some feelings of helplessness … and with those feelings of helplessness, perhaps also feelings of sadness, anger, or disappointment.

Believe it or not, I want you to lean into the feelings I mentioned immediately above. There is likely to be a gift hiding underneath those feelings. Take some time to pause and reflect what is triggering those feelings right now, and notice too if any of the feelings also relate to the past.

The best ways to handle feelings of helplessness include reaching out to others (connecting with your support system or community) or to take action. If you have experienced these types of feelings, think about what conversations you may need to have or the actions you may need to take to deal with whatever is triggering your feelings.

This weeks action step:

1. Call the people you identify to help you sort through your thoughts and feelings, so they can help you brainstorm possible resolutions to your concerns.

2. Take the actions you’ve identified to help you resolve the issues and concerns you have.

I’d love for you to respond on my facebook group if you feel comfortable!!

Join my group on Facebook LOVE MY LIFE and let me know.  Feel free to share my series with your friends or colleagues as well!

To A Life You Love,

Dr. Joan Rosenberg