Adapt and Overcome, Onward and Upwards.

These are motto’s that I live by. Bounce back, adapt, survive, strengthen up – overcome, win, succeed, thrive.

Today I looked out of my glass doors at the late afternoon sky and I saw an aeroplane trailing vapour trails and I felt tears welling up my eyes. I realised this was the first aeroplane vapour trail that I have seen in a week. I live 160 miles north of Heathrow, 130 miles north of Stanstead and 190 miles north of Gatwick. There are various other mid country airports an average of 50 miles in three directions from where I live. I live in a small town in the country – vapour trails from aeroplanes form a staple part of our skies. When skies are clear and blue, there are vapour trails. When it’s partly cloudy, there are vapour trails. When it’s too cloudy to see the trails, you can hear the aeroplanes. Today I realised that this was the first plane I had seen crossing our skies in a number of days and I cried. I cried for the uncertainty in the world with the rapid spread of the Corona virus. I cried for everyone who has lost loved ones to the Covid-19 illness which is attacking the elderly and anyone else with compromised immunity. I cried for my own fears, which I have considered, acknowledged and used to fuel my “adapt and overcome” motto. I cried for the lost and the lonely. I cried for the displaced and I cried for the state of our world.

I stand by my motto. I believe in adaptability and thriving in spite of dire circumstances. I believe in making life the beautiful experience that I want it to be. I also believe in accepting what is real and I believe in the power of grief. The great loss of life, sudden change in the world and resulting uncertainty is deserving of grief. Some people need to grieve for longer than others. I have discovered that grief is a part of my life. It is not as frequent as celebration, yoga and meditation but it is a regular part of my life. I started learning about grief at a young age when I lost my precious puppy as he was decidedly un-trainable and so my parents gave him away. That was my first taste of a loss that needed grieving. Since then, I have lost many friends to death and over time, death and grieving have become familiar to me. I have experienced grief in other ways too and so, I have learnt to allow myself to really feel my feelings and allow them to flow. I have learnt the power of allowing life to break me open, so that I can apply salve to my emotional wounds, feel the pain of the healing and truly heal.

So today I did just that. I allowed my heart to break open from the situation in the world right now, to really feel the feelings of fear and uncertainty and pain. I consciously applied the healing solution of conscious breath, gratitude for my own circumstances, the many positive realities and I am feeling the discomfort of the healing. I am adapting and I am strengthening so that I can thrive, overcome and keep moving – onward and upwards.

I wish the same for you. Allow yourself to feel those feelings that are welling up inside of you. Allow yourself to celebrate what is good. Allow yourself to find the magic in the mix of ugly and beautiful reality and find your own balanced perspective. Witness yourself adapting, overcoming and moving onward and upwards. If your circumstances are truly dire right now, I wish for you to be able to feel what you need to feel and also to find one very real and very bright ray of light to soothe you and wrap around you. At the very least - we’re all in this together. This worldwide situation has us all on the same page and so as we find ways to adapt and overcome, we can also find ways to hold each other up along the way.