Finding Your Deep Strength

2020 has been quite the year. 

From the Covid pandemic and Murder Hornets to devastating wildfires and the Election, well 2020 has been one for the books.  

This was a year for many (if not most of us) where we faced many times in our lives where the pressure mounted beyond what we felt we could handle and wondering if we have the strength to keep going.   I dont know about you guys, but to me it sometimes doesn't seem fair that when we have endured all we can, real life asks us to endure more.   There are days when it can just seem like too much.  

In 1991, I faced such a challenge.  While visiting family in another state my youngest child fell into a swimming pool at the age of 2 and quickly sank to the bottom during a family gathering.   We found him, quickly began CPR and called 911.  The paramedics saved his life, but not before he suffered oxygen deprived brain damage from being underwater. 

So many people around, but it happened so quickly and so quietly, no one discovered what happened until a few minutes later, and by then the damage was done.  

So many people around, but it happened so quickly and so quietly, no one discovered what happened until a few minutes later, and by then the damage was done.  In an instant, our lives changed forever and I was placed in the largest challenge of my young, single-parent life.  

He went on to live a life as a quadriplegic, unable to communicate, due to the brain damage until he moved on to a better place at the age of 6.  I like to think of him today as a happy healthy boy who is charming everyone in the afterlife.

When I look back on these times, I'm amazed that as a 20-something single mother with 2 other kids, I was able to survive this.  I remember how many times I thought it was just too much, I couldn't take it any more.  But somehow I did.  I didn't realize it at the time, but I tapped into that deep strength that we all have inside us.

I like to think about this like a glass box you see on a wall that holds a fire extinguisher or axe with the sign "In an emergency, break glass."  While we may not be able to casually reach through the glass to grab it, it is there, quietly waiting, for when we might need it.  And if that emergency rises, we can break through that glass and find that strength we need for whatever challenge we're facing.  

When this happens we develop a new understanding an appreciate of how strong we really are.  At the end of the day, 2020 will become 2021 and slowly, life as we know it today will start to look more like the life we used to know.  When that happens we can look back and marvel at how we made it through a situation we did not think we could endure.  We are a very resilient species after all.  

Remember, when those situations arise where we think we cannot possibly get through this, pause.  Notice what are you are feeling.  Offer yourself compassion for when you are overwhelmed and exhausted.  And in the event of an emergency, break the glass.

Until next time,

PS.  Would you like to have a customized stress-less plan for an Alcohol-Free Holiday Season?  Use the link below to set up a Breakthrough Discovery Call where I will explain how we can set you up for success.

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