Finding peace thanks to the Corona virus

Many of us are worried about the Coronavirus.

The changes it brings are unprecedented, uncertain and unfamiliar.

There are rising numbers of infected and dead.

There is loneliness and isolation and cabin fever, as people find themselves confined to their homes.

There is a constant stream of bad news and negativity.

There are significant implications for jobs and work, and the economies of the world are crashing.

This, for many of us, is stressful. These problems can be seen as a direct source of our anxiety.

But they are not.

Let me reintroduce an idea that I have written about several times before, and that is:

It is our resistance to circumstance that creates stress, not the thing itself.

We have feelings, not because of what ‘bad’ things are happening out in the world, but because of the ideas and visions we hold in our heads.

‘Bad’ things are not bad things at all. They become bad when we apply a layer of judgement to them that starts in our heads.

They are our thoughts. Interpretations.

We have a very real emotional experience — not to the things that are happening around us — but from our thoughts.

The great news is that we can manage how we think.

We can allow our thoughts to float away and morph into whatever next thought arises from within.

We don’t need to cling to any thought, ruminate and worry.

We are not the servant of our thoughts.

We don’t need to take any one of them seriously.

Yes, there is a situation unfolding that many are labelling in all kinds of negative ways:

‘Terrible; Frightening; Ghastly; Shocking; Debilitating!’

What is happening doesn’t mean we need be slowed, weakened or defeated by it.

Our interpretation defines this. Not the virus.

We can manage the emotional experience we have moment by moment through an understanding of how thoughts create our experience.

This means that regardless of what is happening in the world around us — quarantine, financial issues, and virus — we can have a positive and enlivening emotional experience through it all.

Yes, I am aware that my family could become sick. There is a possibility of that, but I am not letting it affect my experience. I let go of those thoughts.

They don’t help anyone.

I see the opportunities in front of me. I focus on what I can do, and I let go of clinging to those things that are out of my control.

This understanding allows me to relax.

When we are feeling better like this, we are at our most resourceful and creative.

What we see unfolding allows us to expand by letting go of any judgement and seeing it all through a lens that genuinely helps us.

There is an infinite number of ways we can view every situation.

The Coronavirus is one such situation. A neutral one.

We can allow it to lift us up, or we can have it destroy us.

It’s up to us.

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If these ideas stirred something in you, I’d love to read your comment below. I read them all.

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Alex