The current pandemic is a turbulent and uncertain time for many people, which can give rise to feelings of fear and frustration, or grief over the loss of a loved one, a layoff or bankruptcy. But what applies to all difficulties, whether personal or global, is that there are always new possibilities and opportunities.
The current situation presents us with many new challenges, some interesting and more than welcome and others downright annoying and unnatural. In any case, it gives us the chance to become more aware of all the ingrained patterns and habits from which we live and which we have come to experience as self-evident.
Another possibility that the pandemic offers is that it gives us the opportunity on a personal level, but certainly also on a social level, to ask ourselves what is really important and worthwhile. It may give us a little more time and space than usual to ask ourselves what your values are and how you can make choices that align with the deeper desires in your heart.
The pandemic also challenges us and invites us to face our fears. For example, at the start of the first intelligent lockdown, I lay awake all night thinking that there would be no more water available and that I would have to fight with my neighbor for a bottle of water in the supermarket. I only calmed down a bit when I realized that it could also be my neighbor who offers me some water if I have nothing left of my own. In other words, by seeing my neighbor, or anyone else for that matter, not as a threat, but as a fellow human being, space was created again. It felt like a deep reassurance to me that people can not only argue, but also help each other. That realization has opened my eyes that I am much more part of a community than I had ever imagined.
The pandemic will not be the same for anyone. Everyone will have to find his or her own way of dealing with this. With the possible nasty consequences, but also with the opportunities and possibilities that this situation also offers for each of us. If you ask me, it is an excellent opportunity to let go of all kinds of peripheral and distracting matters and to (re)take control over your own life. What is really important to me? And how do I shape that?
It is not uncommon for us to forget what is really important to us and sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you feel you have to make concessions to your own value(s) in order to survive. These are events that can cause physical and/or emotional pain and that affect your self-image and how you react to your environment. For example, on a personal level, think of a diagnosis for cancer, of alcohol abuse in the family, on a social level of racism and on a global level of a pandemic. All things that can put pressure on your self-image, which test your beliefs and can influence how you deal with yourself and the world around you.
In Chinese Medicine, the 8 extra meridians provide us with powerful tools that act on this and help change false self-image and unwholesome beliefs. They give you the opportunity to connect more with who you really are, to make choices from there and to deal with the world around you. Because these extra meridians contain and can tap into our purest essence, they are very useful to strengthen or restore the connection with ourselves in times of unrest, crisis and change. (Read more about the 8 extra meridians in Chinese Medicine here)
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