Waiting vs Growing {Notes from the Kind Side}

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been struggling to get things done.

I’ve felt the responsibility to write, but I’ve had none of the words.

I’ve felt the necessity of exercise, but little of the energy to do so.

I’ve been dragging myself from one news source to another and filling the cracks with distracted reading and games on my phone.

I’ve been through periods of extended crisis before. My instinct is to make the stress go away as quickly as possible by hunkering down or focusing all my attention at the problem, surely with enough action or angst life will go back to normal.

But when that doesn’t work I have had to learn to carry on in a new normal, to grow new habits, to lean on Jesus in different ways, and to find different resources of support.

Today I had a little thought. Instead of dwelling in a world where the sky is falling and focusing entirely on how the world is warding off this disease, I need to let myself enjoy my life. I need to of let myself carry on as usual, more or less. I need to find the goodness of a new normal.

It’s ok to get caught in the minutiae, but that is not where most of us live.

It’s good to know what is going on.

It is imperative that we know how to act responsibly to protect ourselves and our community, but that is not our entire life.

And yes, right now, part of the process is simply waiting.

Extended crises are hard.

But it’s time.

No, we don’t need to make big new plans or try to live up to any arbitrary ideals.

But we can embrace the growth needed in ourselves and in our families to make a new normal in the interim. We can choose to take the small next steps, carry on or adjust our previous goals in the new situation, and trust God with all the fast-tracked learning and growing we are doing on the way.

—

For me, right now, that looks like getting back into the good habits I’ve been tracking this year, knowing enough to make informed and community-centered choices, reminding myself that God is in control, and leaning into the process of finding a new normal.

—

It might still feel like survival mode, but it might also feel like creating a life right in the middle of it.

Right here with you.