I feel like we’re coming out of something: Pandemic living, Winter, Lent. And I so want to believe that it’s smooth sailing entering “normalcy,” Spring, Easter. Yet I’m struck by the deep feeling that really important work is just beginning. That sense that the chaos and upheaval I’ve been living for a year is calling me to keep working to intentionally put the pieces back together.
Chaos, if we allow it, leads to deeper and more intentional peace, purpose and living.
Chaos mixes life up – scrambles things, shakes everything around. Over the past year, we were faced with challenges we hadn’t even imagined. We experienced areas of our life that really cause us struggle and pain. We noticed what brings us true joy and peace. There were moments where our weaknesses were shockingly evident. Surely, at other moments we realized our own amazing strength. I wonder if we never would have seen these areas of our life so blatantly without the extreme chaos – for they often remain hidden under normalcy and busy-ness.
But the real work doesn’t only exist in those moments of chaos. Thankfully survival mode kicked in and our instinct to protect and survive got us through.
If we want to use the chaos, if we want to thrive body, mind and spirit going forward, then the real work and intentional thought needs to go into the time after the chaos and upheaval. Not just picking up the pieces, but in placing those pieces where they are meant to go. That time is now.
It is so hard, though. We are ready for ease and calm! Also we may feel guilty or like something is wrong with us – “we almost made it through! That was a crazy time but now things are calming down – I should feel great!” But we don’t. And things don’t feel calm and normal, for we are just entering the time when we put those pieces back together intentionally and purposefully (or even get rid of some of them all together).
So remember,
· Be gentle with yourself
· Seek help (prayer, meditation, mentor, friends)
· Reflect on what is really necessary in my life? Helpful? Peace invoking?
· What is no longer needed?
· What caused the most stress and anxiety? (A relationship? My need for control?) And how can I let that go or better manage or cope with the stress with that part of my life?
It’s going to be worth the extra work. Oscar Wilde once said, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist. That is all.” What if we don’t “just live” after the chaos and reflection of last year. What if we really accept the opportunity to intentionally live, and with purpose put those pieces back into place – a new place, a more fruitful place. Think how alive and strong we will be as we move forward. May we all use this opportunity to become aware so that we can continually use the chaos AND the calm to grow in body, mind and spirit.
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