3 Ways to Reframe the Coronapocalypse or Any “Apocalypse” For That Matter
CHOCOLATE HUMMUS ANYONE?
A few days ago, in an Uber, my driver and I joked about how NYC had become a ghost town—apocalyptic almost. I shared the story of one of my clients who had told me that she had waited almost two hours to get into Trader Joe’s only to find out that there was just chocolate hummus left on the shelves. “Who wants F*ing chocolate hummus?!” She had taken her husband and two kids, and they had in her words, “…fled New York in the middle of the night” to the safety of the Poconos. Back in the Uber, I joked with my driver, “I kind of half expect zombies to show up asking for TOILET PAPER! GIVE ME TOILET PAPER!” We both laughed not knowing what would come just days later.
THE REFRAME: WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU CHOCOLATE HUMMUS MAKE CHOCOLATE CAKE?
I get it, it’s just not the same when you work from home or an event you’ve been looking forward to gets canceled. At the end of February, I was due to speak in Turin, Italy. They ended up postponing the event, I was asked to instead condense my 30 minute motivational talk into a 1 minute video, so they could move the event online. Beyond the disappointment of cool events and getting to just grab a coffee with friends, we humans tend to do something called catastrophizing: making everything out to be a catastrophe. #TheStruggleIsReal.
So let’s reframe Coronapocalypse or any “Apocalypse” for you so you can breathe a little easier, but make sure you’re 6 feet away from that other person first:
1. REGRET
In another Uber, my driver spent almost the entire 30 minute ride telling me about her dreams of becoming a YouTube makeup tutorial expert. When I would try to interject to say something inspirational or encouraging, she would give me more excuses as to why she couldn’t do it. “What if people judge me?” There it was. I got her, I mean, I always feared people would judge me. I feared people would judge me for not brushing my hair, people would judge me for being a non-conventional motivational speaker/healer, people would judge me for talking to myself, and the list goes on. I thought of what I should say in the short time I had before we arrived at my destination and I had to get out. This is what I came up with: “You know, every morning when I wake up, I ask myself: if today were my last day, would I regret anything in my life? If my answer is YES, then I know I have to change something. Would you regret not launching your YouTube Channel?” Why not start on your REGRET list now? Heck, you got time!
2. RELEASE
My friend Kate swears by colon cleanses but I could never wrap my head around someone sticking something…ok, I will stop there. I was eager to try different cleanses and different healing modalities, so I scheduled my appointment. My therapist Jen was super hip, young, and vibrant. Everything went smoothly, I guess, until there was a part that made me cramp. I held her hand, and looked up at the word RELEASE that had been written in silver pen on the water tank. When I left, I felt so much lighter. It got me thinking about how so many of us carry sh*t around that no longer serves us: physically, emotionally, spiritually, and everything else in between. What if we used this time to RELEASE it? Start slow and release what you can: junk food, junk emotions, junk email, junk relationships. I mean, isn’t the goal to get to an immune system that is robust enough to handle Coronapocalypse?
3. TOUCH
In this time of elbow bumps and no touching, we need touch more than ever. Go on and don’t wait for the next time someone will touch you or your next massage, go ahead and touch yourself and give yourself a massage. Did you know massages decrease cortisol (stress hormone) and boost oxytocin (happy hormone), as well as boosting the immune system? Take that Coronapocalypse. I also use this word in a double entendre kind of way: Write a love letter to yourself, or a letter of forgiveness, or a song. Get back in touch with who you really are. You may just find that you are more equipped to deal with Coronapocalypse or any other “apocalypse” than you ever thought.