It’s natural, when things get hectic, to let joy fall off the list. After all, there’s so much to do!
As the saying goes: when the going gets tough…
So we focus in on what appears to be essential, pouring all our energy into today’s crisis.
While that can be a good place to start, our heroics are often accompanied by two things that might not help us:
- Cycling through worries, fears, and worst-case stories about what might result from this crisis (aka anticipation of failure)
- Mind-numbing distraction because we “need a break” (aka doom scrolling)
I visualize the concentric circles like this. And I can’t imagine that the outer two rings are helping me or helping those around me.
We might, then, ask ourselves: what are the minimum conditions that need to be in place for us to experience joy?
And if we really, truly, cannot experience joy today, because of all that is going on, can we at least allow ourselves the space to quiet the outer two circles for a moment?
What would help us to do that?
What helps us pause, breath, smile, laugh, and drop our shoulders, even if just for a second?
Worry and distraction do not have to be out constant companions in a crisis.
If they are, then when does the moment arrive where things are “calm enough” for joy to creep back in?
And when will those near-perfect conditions be met?
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