Why I'm Grateful for COVID-19

Now, before you send me hate mail, please hear me out. First and foremost, I am in no way making light of the illnesses, deaths, sadness, struggle, and tragedy that so many have faced (and continue to face) because of this novel virus. But for me, the arrival of this virus has helped catapult my emotional and spiritual growth in ways I couldn’t have even imagined.

Yes, there is SO MUCH I can be angry about…having to put parts of my business on hold (for what feels like indefinitely, at the time of this writing), not being able to see my Dad and my sister for who knows how long (they live in FL and I live in RI), watching my friends and family struggle: with the illness itself, with the financial hardship as their businesses are impacted, with the decisions that need to be made, and with the deaths of their loved ones as a result of this virus. And yep; I absolutely have my days where I just sob uncontrollably due to the sadness, frustration, anger, overwhelm, and disappointment of all of it. I’m still human, after all.

I see so many folks lamenting “I just want things to go back to normal!!” and they hold so tightly to how things used to be that they are making themselves absolutely miserable. And they are standing squarely in the way of their own growth. They are blocking inspiration and opportunity because they are not willing to see beyond the past.

All of the chaos that is happening right now is our chance to review, release, and reset. Yes, some (most?) of what is happening absolutely sucks! But let’s take a breath, pause, and REALLY look at how our lives were before this. What is truly important? Do you really, truthfully, want everything to be exactly as it was? Or do you want to see what could be, if you could allow yourself to let go of the old to make room for the new?

For me, all of this has pushed me to up my gratitude game. I’ve always thought I’ve been pretty good with my gratitude practice, but my ability to be grateful has never been more challenged than it has been since March of this year (2020). I thought going through my Mom’s illnesses and transition back to Spirit was the biggest challenge to my ability to find things to be grateful for; boy was I wrong.

All of this has also pushed me to strengthen my meditation practice. Meditation was always something I enjoyed, and something I tried to do regularly. But with the anxiety and chaos of what is happening (both for me and in the collective), I found that I absolutely needed to have some quiet, check out of the world time, each and every day in order to maintain my own balance. My meditations became more consistent and more frequent. And as a result, my intuition has grown stronger than it has ever been.

I now receive the messages and inspirations meant for me on a pretty regular basis; some come through during meditation and some come through randomly throughout the day. Some of these inspirations have allowed me to make changes to my business that not only allow me to stay in business, but to serve an even wider variety of people. I used to very much be a thinker, stuck in my head, trying to “logic” my way out of most situations. Over these last few months, I have shifted into a space of flowing and allowing…allowing the world to unfold as it needs to, allowing myself to flow with the emotions of the day, allowing myself to receive the inspirations and flowing with them when they arrive. I’ve never felt more in alignment with the Universe than I do right now.

I’m sure some of you are reading this and thinking “Well, isn’t that nice for you? I don’t have time for meditation and I sure as hell don’t have much to be grateful for these days.” But here’s the thing…meditation is anything that allows you to be still, and it doesn’t have to be for an hour at a time. So take an extra 30 seconds in the shower to just BE. Take an extra 30 seconds for some nice slow, deep breaths before you get out of the car and head into the house. Stand on your porch for one minute, just appreciating the moon and the stars. Take a minute before going to sleep for some deep breaths and think of 3 things you’re grateful for. And they don’t have to be huge things! It’s perfectly fine to be grateful that you have the good toilet paper, everyone in your family is home safely today, and your WiFi has been a rockstar. The more we focus on the good stuff, the more we find to be grateful for. The Universe is waiting to align with you too.