A New “What If”
Times are tough. Like really tough.
In these situations it is easy to get consumed by fear. By the “what ifs”.
What if I get sick?
What if i lose my job?
What if I cant pay next months bills?
I am not going to lie – these thoughts go through my mind on a daily basis. It is almost a constant state of worry lately. My reasoning clouded by the unknown.
But what if we changed our thinking a little and started focusing on another “what if”?
What if this is an opportunity?
When I began putting this new way of thinking to the test, it was amazing how my current mindset riddled with fear turned into a mindset full of hope. Fully of positivity and even excitement.
We have an opportunity here to completely change the trajectory of our lives. The greatest thing about this situation is that you have complete control of how you let it shape your life moving forward.
Many of us have seen a giant leap in the amount of free time we have now. Time we usually spent working or running errands. All of this time creates an endless amount of opportunity.
Have you always wanted to learn a second language? How to sew? How to garden? YOU HAVE TIME TO DO THIS NOW!
Always wanted to write a book? How about read a book? You have time to do this, too!
Have you been feeling stuck in a rut for the past year? Not really sure if you are happy with the direction your life is going? Feeling like you have lost yourself? Well take all of this extra time to FIND YOURSELF again. Meditate. Go on walks in nature. Make lists of things you love to do and start doing them! Look for a new career. Create a side hustle. Paint. Start a new hobby.
I could go on and on with the endless possibilities there are will this extra free time. You will probably never get this opportunity of so much free time again (until you retire of course!).
Having your kids out of school and home all of the time is another aspect of life a lot of us are dealing with right now. You could choose to look at this with a mindset of stress and fear. Wondering if your kids are going to fall behind in their education. Or if you are going to survive the shear fact that your family is about to spend a whole lot of one-on-one time together.
There are so many opportunities here, too. You get a chance to shape a little bit of your kids education. Have fun with it. Teach them some life skills instead of the traditional skills they learn in the classroom. Have a highschooler? Teach them how to manage their finances. Teach your kids to cook. How to ride a bike.
Take the family out to a local park or nature trail (with physical distancing guidelines in mind!). This will give you some space to let your kids run around and learn all about nature.
Your kids are not going to be home with you forever. Just take this time to strengthen your family bond.
Speaking of strengthening bonds, use this extra time to reconnect with old friends. More than likely they are sitting around wondering what to do with all of their free time just like you are. Call your family members, you have time now to make those “just because” conversations happen. Lean on these important people in your life and let them know you are here for them, too.
How about one of the scary aspects of this pandemic – money. What opportunities are there if you lose your job? Or if you are a struggling small business?
Well use this as an opportunity to change the way you think about money. Have you always been living paycheck to paycheck and now things are seeming a little tight? Well use all of your free time to take a hard look at your budget. Don’t have a budget? Create one. Change the way you are managing your money so next time this situation comes around, you will be more financially resilient.
If you own a small business or restaurant, use this as an opportunity to think outside the box. Have you always wanted to create an online presence? Well there hasn’t been a better time. Learn how to create a website and start selling your items that way. A lot of local businesses in my area are doing curbside pick up!
Are you a restaurant owner? Convert to takeout or delivery. Or use your time to create a new menu or make other improvements you have been putting off.
Ultimately, this pandemic has put us all at a fork in the road. You can choose to take the path that leads to a completely different lifestyle – the one you have always dreamed of. One full of positivity, happiness, and change.
Or you can choose the one full of worry and doubt. One that may be filled with unhappiness. Maybe the one you were already on?
When you think about it, haven’t we always had this opportunity? The opportunity to choose what path we go down?
Maybe this pandemic is just the outside force we needed to thrust us down the path we have always wanted to take.