I know. These are Uncertain Times.
We have never seen anything like this in our Lifetimes.
It may feel unsettling, even terrifying.
And quelling the spread of COVID-19 is vitally important! There is no question of that!
But really, was anyone OK with the way it was?

I can only see the Gift in this!
Mother Nature stepping in. “Slow Down,” she said.
We did not listen.
“Slow Down!” she said.
We speeded up – More Apps! More Stuff! More Agita!
“SLOW DOWN!” she said again! “NO!” came our defiant replay.
And so, now, we Slow Down.

Pause.
Listen.
It’s nice… kinda’… isn’t it?

I know that it is vitally important, and I am not one of the people asking what the big deal is and why we are trashing our economy for this year’s flu. That is a wildly ignorant position.
I am more well-read than that, and I do not question the significance and importance of what we are doing by stopping pretty much everything.

A cartoon from the internet

As I understand it — distilling down the wealth of information I have digested from news stories, radio broadcasts, the medical profession, the CDC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and all that I have absorbed – this thing is coming at us fast. We are running about ten days behind Italy, and their Health Care System is collapsing under this. So, at the pace we’d been going, there would not be enough Doctors and Health Care Workers to handle the number of patients, and we would run short of medical supplies. Doctors would need to decide who lives and who dies – as is currently happening in Italy, because there would not be enough ventilators for the number of people who would need them to breathe.
That is why we must stay home and self-quarantine.
We must reduce the number of cases so that our Health Care System does not collapse!
The seriousness of this cannot be overstated!

Sometimes, just the mugs in my Coffee Cabinet are enough to make me Smile

But, for those of us who are home…
For Now, in this moment…
It’s kinda’ nice.

Did anyone think it was working the way it was?
dONALD tRUMP?
mITCH mCCONNELL???
Pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord?
A Tax Bill that protected the very rich and harmed the little folks?
Economic Inequality not seen since the days of serfdom?
The Polar Ice Caps breaking apart and falling into the ocean, raising sea levels?
The KARDASHIAN’s power of influence?
TAYLOR SWIFT’S Lyrics?
MELANIA’s Coat???
Did anyone think any of this was OK?
And with the pace of technology…
In CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD by NEALE DONALD WALSCH, it is mentioned that in every Lost Society (Atlantis… Pompei…etc.) it all ended because of the same reason: the technology got ahead of the spirituality.
As a society, was that not true for us?
Did the apps and the demands of our so-called smartphones show any sign of slowing down?
Were we keeping pace with them, anyway?

Do you see the Gift yet?
It has all SLOWED DOWN!
It has all, for just a moment in time, ground to a Halt!

And isn’t it So Full of Wonder?
Is there anything we were hoping to do?
Is there anything we were hoping to make happen in our Lives?
…Anything our hearts so very much desired for which we were afraid we would never be able to make the time?
Well, POOF! Here, presented to us is the Gift of Time!
…as it can only ever be received: Now.
And isn’t it So Full of Wonder?

Might be time to clean out that Coffee Grinder… one of many self care projects on a long list of things for which it would be good to make some time…

What a Beautiful Gift is Time!
What a Beautiful Gift is 20 Seconds
20 Seconds to wash our hands
20 Seconds of Self Care
…even doing that three times only requires a minute
And YOU are worth that
And SO Much More!
What a JOYFUL Discovery!

And besides what we might like to do,
Lets’ check in with how we are.
As my Partner often reminds me, we are Human Beings, not Human Doings.
Like a Dog Off Leash, let us Play…
Sniff About…
See in what Direction we might like to go from here…
Even more importantly, let us be where we are.
Pause.
Listen to our Beating Heart.
Now, with less responsibility to our Jobs, Duties, and Other People,
What if we, as LOUISE HAY once put it, just stood in front of the mirror, took a good look at ourselves, and said out loud, “I Love You! I Really Love You! Is there anything I can do today to make you Happy?”
What if we simply ask that question,
Then Pause,
and Listen for the Answer.

Let us Love What Is!
Embrace this Moment.
Listen.
Ask.
Awaken.
Tune In, Tap In, Turn On…
Quiet our Noisy Selves.
Savor the Silence – the Sacred Silence of Mediation
Be Present
Be Still, that we may Still Be…
Bask in Gratitude
Open our Eyes
Open our Ears

A Workout can be a Wonderful Gift of selfcare, and an immune-booster, plus there’s eyecandy! 🙂

Could we find ourselves Again?
Could we Learn to Listen Again?
We Loved ourselves once upon a time…
Could we Love our Selves Again?
Perhaps we can once again become Masters of Technology instead of the other way around?
Connect with our own Souls.
See more clearly our Place in the Universe.
As the Desiderata puts it…
You have a Right to be here, no less than the moon and the stars.
Perhaps we have forgotten that Truth.
Perhaps we have forgotten how to TRUST…
Perhaps, like Simba in THE LION KING, we have forgotten who we are…
We need to Pause and Remember so many Truths about who we Really are
And what we are doing here.
It is more than just a race to the End.
There is Beauty in Every Moment!
There is unmatchable Beauty
And there are Boundless Unimaginable Gifts within Each One of Us!
We knew it once.
What a Great Opportunity to Pause
and Rediscover each and every one!

A Cartoon from the internet

Take a Moment
Now
Breathe
Pause

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