Today, our state officially became a part of the ever-growing list of regions to have a shelter-in-place order for the next two weeks. We probably all know what that means by now, but basically we're supposed to stay at home except for essential activities, in order to help flatten the curve of new cases. This means that if we weren't feeling cabin fever before, it's probably inevitable at some point soon. I'm in the process of moving, which means that I'm not exactly at the point of twiddling my thumbs yet. But yet, I'm finding a great deal of gratitude for how life has slowed down over these past few weeks, and am excited to get more of the same in the coming month, despite the circumstances under which it's coming.
I think there's an incredible amount of knowledge and reflection that comes with solitude. We spend more time with ourselves than anyone else on the planet, but yet sometimes it feels like we hardly know who we really are. Why we do the things we do, why we have the reactions to certain things that we have, and our true motivations for actions we're considering taking. Not to mention about a million other things. These next few weeks will be the perfect time to get to know yourself a bit better. You can dig as deep as you want, but I think it's worth exploring why you feel the things you do and the causes behind the thoughts that come into your mind. It doesn't have to be a long daily practice; it can be as simple as catching yourself before you reply to a text message or aimlessly reach for another snack. It's important to realize though that this will probably be the most time in our lives we will ever have to practice these strategies.
There's no better person to study than yourself. In order to love who you are, you need to figure out who that is first. I'm thankful we'll all have the opportunity to find that out in the coming weeks. In the face of chaos, we can find peace instead.
"A Single Seed" is my attempt to get out one idea every day that I've learned or accumulated over the years, with the hope that it may stick in someone else's memory bank as well. The idea may be related to fitness, business, life, or philosophy, but I think you'll find that many can change domains if you wish them to. With each seed planted, a new life awaits.
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Introspection_-_Sunset