What Are We Made Of?

What am I made of?

Well,

Divinity for one.

I made of the things of Gods.

I mean, kind of a big deal.

We are literally made of the things of Gods.

Sit on that for a hot minute.

I am also made of:

Courage

Resilience

Change

A whole lot of change!

Sass

SO MUCH sass

Kindness

Empathy

Organization

Some intelligence... not much but there is a little bit there

Testimony

Fear

Anxiety

Love

Excitement

Laughter

Tears

Bruises

Guacamole & Ice cream (for real)

Baseball loving

Affection

Broken brain

Strained heart

Coloring fingers

...

What are you made of?

Finding Joy in Shizziness

These two nuggets wanted to do a little Snapchat fun.

So, we did.

They laughed.

I laughed.

It was just what we needed.

Laughter is amazing right now.

In unknown, scary times - we can still choose to laugh.

So, we are laughing.

Do What You Do

Yup.

This is a printable coloring page.

I colored it yesterday.

And others.

With the "F" word.

And, I don't feel bad about it.

I color.

It's what I do.

And right now, I need some laughter and eye rolling to keep myself motivated to do pretty much anything.

So, thus - this.

We are literally all dealing with these emotions and feelings and thoughts and all of it differently.

As long as it isn't hurting you or anyone else, you do you.

However it is that you do it - do it.

And, PS...

I'm rooting for your rise now and always.

Are You Okay?

I am learning to answer this question by saying, "Nope."

"I am not okay."

"And that's okay."

"Everything is not fine. But it will be."

I am also learning to express my feelings and thoughts.

No matter how guilty I feel about having them.

I am able to say, "Okay, I think I'm ready to talk."

And the people I've chosen to have around me are able to listen with love.

This is a time when a lot of us are not okay.

We feel fear and uncertainty.

I feel a lot of it.

A lot.

So, let's do a couple of things.

1. Let's ask our village if they are okay.

2. Let's listen with love and empathy.

3. Let's be there for each other. Really be there for each other.

Be Sure to Feel

Remember, the worst thing we can do is to try to ignore the feelings that we are having or to push them away out of fear of feeling.

Remember that these feelings of fear, uncertainty, chaos, sadness, confusion are not unsafe.

They aren't dangerous.

It's okay for us to feel them.

Sit with them for a minute.

Acknowledge that we feel this way.

Invite them to the dang party.

Ask them if there is anything that we can do about them.

If there isn't, let them go.

Tell them that they are welcome to stay, but that you won't be living your life according to what they say.

If there is something that you need to do about those feelings, do it.

Get the water.

Get the groceries.

Get the batteries.

Make sure your family has an emergency plan.

Then breathe.

And keep breathing.

You got this!

Find Peace

Take a deep, deep breath.

Do a body scan.

Ask yourself what your legs are touching.

What your back is touching.

What your hands are touching.

Are you breathing into your belly?

Inhale for four seconds.

Hold for four seconds.

Exhale for six seconds.

Blow it out.

What do you smell?
What do your eyes see?

Then breathe.

Just breathe.

I feel the chaos.

I feel the frustration.

I am feeling the enormous pressure from every angle.

I am focusing today on reminding myself that peace (real peace) comes from our Father and His Son, not from the world.

And, thank goodness for that.

An Open Letter to Fellow Addicts

Dear Addict Friends:

Hello.

Right now, there is so much chaos around us.

The world feels very out of control.

It feels loud, too busy, impatient, heavy, very uncomfortable.

We have no control over anything.

Except ourselves.

We have control over ourselves.

We can find peace in the battle of chaos.

As addicts, chaos is truly a battle.

Every hour of every day.

When things are chaotic, loud, and feel out of our control-

We tend to go deep into our addictions.

We feel the extreme need to escape and our addictions always allowed for temporary escape.

Knowing that we have tools to keep us in recovery is our armor.

It is our weapon.

It is our control over a very scary situation.

So, remember during this almost inescapable time, that you are not alone.

We are all in this together.

Take these days and weeks to work on you.

The world will still be chaotic, but you don't have to be.

Love,

H