When dealing with life during the pandemic a lot of us are feeling the upheaval. Things we were confident in are now suddenly a question. So much we took for granted is now missing from our lives. The whole situation has made many of us feel that nothing is guaranteed anymore and are unsure where next we will find ourselves. This feeling can be incredibly uncomfortable and hard to deal with but the funny thing is, we should not find it so foreign. Nothing has ever been a sure thing, we have never been promised tomorrow. The assumption we will have the same things we have today will be there tomorrow, is just that, an assumption. Sure it proved itself to be true many times over, but it was never ours to own. The truth is tomorrow, even a minute from now, is not a sure thing. The feeling we have been living with for most of our lives that it is, is simply an illusion. And now this illusion has been cast aside.
It all feels very Matrix right? Like all the sudden we are flooded with thoughts and worries of uncertainty, we are so aware of how little is promised to us and yet we also realize life has always been this way, we were just fooling ourselves into thinking there was certainty. With the veil being lifted we now can clearly see what our life actually is: a brief yet wonderful journey where we have less than a hundred years to make an impact. It reminds me of a quote from Kafka, “The meaning of life is that it ends.” The question you have to ask yourself now is, what are you going to do with this information? Are you going to stand stunned and motionless, like a deer in headlights, while losing precious moments of your life, counting the moments as they pass? Or are you going to acknowledge the lack of promise we have and push for those things in life you always wanted but were afraid to go for because you assumed you had security? Realizing how little you actually have is incredibly liberating if you allow it to be. Of course we still have responsibility, this is not a call to live with reckless abandon, leave the family and burn through savings, but it is a call to consider your life and your legacy more carefully. What do you want your life to be? What do you want your legacy to be? And most importantly, how are you working towards achieving the life and legacy you want?
While there are constraints of space, time and money, the constraints should not, cannot be, that you are comfortable now or that you are secure. We have allowed ourselves to comfort ourselves and perhaps grow complacent in our lives, but now is the time to really look that issue in the eye and confront it. To do this, grab your favorite writing instrument, laptop, phone, pen and paper, and start free writing. The point of free writing is not to think, just to let the information flow. Now ask yourself the following questions, give yourself as much time as you need to fill each question but also do not spend too much time belaboring a point on one.
− What has left your life during the pandemic that you thought would be permanent?
− How did this make you feel?
− Name one thing that has improved in your life since the pandemic.
− Name one thing that has diminished or disappeared.
− What is the legacy you want to leave?
− What have you accomplished in your life so far to complete this legacy?
− Are you fulfilled with your life?
− What is one thing you want in your life but have been afraid to reach for?
− What are the fears keeping you from this goal?
− Has the time in the pandemic helped or injured your ability to accomplish this goal?
After completing these exercises you should have a good sense of the volatility of your life and perhaps even a realization that you have not quite been living the life you wanted due to your ideas that you thought you knew about the future. Now you are faced with two choices. You can either continue in the cycle of assumption-expectation-desire, living half awake and assuming you know everything, or you can awaken yourself to the reality that you simply do not, and can not know the future and embrace the uncertainty. Don't allow your mind to play the trick of false security that will only lead to you taking your life for granted. Use this moment as a way to see the adventure that life truly is! Reach out to us at info@bullionite.com with your comments and questions!