It’s Okay To Feel
You Are Right!
Yes, you! You are right to feel:
Frustrated, Worried, Angry, Scared,
, Confused, Depressed, Lonely,
Broke, Displaced, Yearnful, Isolated,
, Exiled, Uncertain, Detached,
Lost, Sad, Mystified, Belligerent,
, Exhausted, Bewildered, Agitated.
Your world has been turned upside down. It is unrecognizable. It is scary.
Sometimes we all need a little validation that everything will be okay… that YOU will be okay, and that your feelings are accepted.
You are right to feel like things are out of control, that the world is on fire, that our freedoms are being infringed upon and that our country and way of life are under attack and no one seems to know what we should be doing.
You are right to be supportive of our leaders, health experts, researchers and scientists who have recommended flattening the curve by staying home, shutting in, covering up, and washing rigorously.
You are also right to question it all. To wonder about the accuracy and efficacy of the data. To use your own experiences to make judgements for yourself. To question the motives – political and financial – of everyone who is either telling us to keep things locked up or to hurry up and open.
You are right if you are on both sides. To care deeply for people and want to do your part to keep them safe by staying home and wearing masks – and also being frustrated when others don’t – while still questioning the value of the efforts, not wanting to wear a mask and of the torching our economy to do so.
You are right to be so frustrated that you want to scream until your voice disappears and to be so sad that you cry all the time. You are right to be exhausted, lonely and yearning for physical touch. Just one hug.
You are right to be scared to go out in the world yourself, to risk exposure, to worry about the possibility of getting this scary disease and be frightened that you may get so sick that you will end up in the hospital and possibly die.
You are right to be concerned about how many lives will be lost to depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disease, domestic violence, financial ruin and undiagnosed conditions that are directly caused by our decisions now and wonder why those lives have less value.
You are right to be pissed at people who use this pandemic to divide the country more and to further their radical unrelated agenda.
You are right to be envious of people who are on unemployment and earning more than you doing nothing while you continue to go to your job – either at home or by sacrificing your own personal health – to ensure you still have a job because this tragedy may last a very, very long time. You are also right to question why so many jobs pay so little that a small short-term bump in unemployment is better.
You are right to feel grateful to have the unemployment and this time to be home and safe, but also you are right to be concerned about your job prospects during a time when everything is closed and wanting desperately for normalcy of being out in the workforce.
You are right to feel forgotten by being left out of the conversation, unable to get financial support, frustrated by the bureaucracy and disappointed that the business and life you’ve built could disappear in a puff of smoke and no one will know the difference or care.
You are right to expect that as the wealthiest nation in the world we should have done a whole lot better. You are right to expect our national and local leaders to get it together and fix the obviously broken health care system in this country and stop making it political.
You are right to be concerned about our economy, the small businesses, your retirement accounts, employment prospects, our food supply, your family’s and your health, your ability to go on vacation or to be entertained, your financial well-being and your own mental health.
But ultimately, you are right to be fiercely conflicted. You are being pulled in all directions and as you listen, read, share, discuss and are overloaded with information, your feelings bounce from place to place like a ping pong game that never ends.
And you know what? Your feelings are all valid. There is no playbook, no right way to deal, no truly informed experts and no way to know how it will turn out. What you do have is you, your family, your friends, your ecosystem, your ability to process information critically and your propensity for compassion for yourself and others. It’s hard for everyone right now. I know you want a way out and so do I.
As a small business owner, whose entire model is on making people happy by bringing them together in large groups to be entertained and connected, I’ve never gone through so many emotions in my life and I’m scared I will lose it all. But I do know this: If you are true to you and your values, you will come out on the other side of this knowing that you are still YOU!
They can’t take that from you.
You Rock What You Got!