Today was a Difficult Day
Dear friends,
“Today was a Difficult Day” said Pooh.
There was a pause.
“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Piglet.
“No,” said Pooh after a bit. “No, I don’t think I do.”
“That’s okay,” said Piglet, and he came and sat beside his friend.
“What are you doing?” asked Pooh.
“Nothing, really,” said Piglet. “Only, I know what Difficult Days are like. I quite often don’t feel like talking about it on my Difficult Days either.
“But goodness,” continued Piglet, “Difficult Days are so much easier when you know you’ve got someone there for you. And I’ll always be here for you, Pooh.”
And as Pooh sat there, working through in his head his Difficult Day, while the solid, reliable Piglet sat next to him quietly, swinging his little legs…he thought that his best friend had never been more right.”
A.A. Milne
Sending thoughts to those having a Difficult Day today and hope you have your own Piglet to sit beside you 🧡
My reflections of this past week include: 5 of you losing jobs, 3 of you or a family member having contracted the virus, our medical professionals repeatedly saying that this is going to be the worst week of most of our lives – including worse than or a 9/11, Katrina or wars. As a professor of Crisis and Trauma one of the things I would teach my students is that a crisis state lasts for approximately 6 weeks – (I’m sure some of you have heard this before). The point is that after 6 weeks we tend to get used to the situation and start settling into a new “norm”. Are we ready to settle in yet?
My crisis began on March 16 – that Monday – when someone told me that they had been concerned about not feeling well and were going for a test. At the same time, I turned on the television to hear that we, as a country, were in big trouble because we were not prepared for this. So, if I work out the time frame – that means that I am right smack dab in the middle of the crisis! Yet, I would wish that we only have three more weeks of this. There is no doubt that there will be a multitude of mini after shocks – lasting much more than 3 weeks.
There is no denying that this trauma will effect us all for the rest of our lives. We have been witness to a whole cultural, value, political, economical shift. Our children, our children’s children will have to make sense of all of this. And, in the meantime – what do we do with this knowledge? How do we explain it all? Think maybe we have choices,
Guess we have to face the truth of other’s suffering and at the same time acknowledge how hard this is for each of us. I hear from so many of you that you shouldn’t complain because others have it worse. Just because others have it worse doesn’t make your individual journey easy. Yet, there is no doubt that being grateful for what we have helps us…. And, yes, so many others have it worse!
I just think that if we can acknowledge that loss and share it with others, without shame, we have a better chance of coming through this on the other side – whatever that may be. It is the Brene’ Brown theory that vulnerability brings us closer to intimacy. None of us are above feeling this loss.
So, this week as we reflect on the worst week – (I truly cannot wrap my brain around the loss of over 10,000 lives to this virus) let’s acknowledge that this has not been an easy road and we have lost a lot. (I know that I am now supposed to say that there are gains too – but don’t think I can do that right now). I think the gains will be so individual and are unknown at this time so we have to let those simmer for awhile.
So, please take care of yourselves, be kind to yourself and it’s okay to feel sad about the world and your individual circumstances. Because, in the end, I know each and every one of you will put your big girl/boy panties on and get through.
Ps. Yes, our Sunita, daughter in law nurse is getting through her virus. All is well.
And, thanks for letting me send you these – it is my therapy too!!!!
Check this link out for a laugh: