The past few days, more than ever, I’ve been asking myself “when will this be over?'” I call my friends and one of the first things I ask is “when will we see each other again? When do you think things will go back to normal? Do you think June?” I’ve had this overwhelming feeling that my normal is changing. Do you ever get those feelings that something is shifting? Normally when I get this feeling and things shift, they change for the better. Yes, the better. But that doesn’t stop me from holding on with all my might to what’s normal when I feel something shifting. Change is scary. The uncertainty of the future, especially a future you didn’t plan out yourself, is scary. I know a lot of us are wondering the impact the pandemic will have on our jobs, relationships, bank accounts, bodies, etc. While it may feel like there’s a million things to worry about, there’s also a million things to be grateful for, to be more mindful of, and to look forward to. Not everything that we know as normal actually serves us. Some the things that are familiar are the same things that are killing us.

The world will make us feel like it’s normal to get angry. It’s normal to argue with those closest to you, it’s normal to hate someone who didn’t vote for the person you voted for. The world will tell you it’s normal to hate your boss even though you don’t know him/her personally. The world will tell you it’s normal to wish the worst on people who have what you want. Just because it’s normal and familiar, doesn’t mean we need it. Is it normal to check Instagram when we wake up groggy in the middle of the night? What normal are we rushing back to? Are we rushing back to wanting to look perfect from every angle and taking 200 photos of our face before we pick one to post? Are we rushing back to working so hard that we have no time to nourish our bodies and sleep properly? Are we rushing back to prioritizing drama over the peace and understanding of our relationships? That’s something I struggled with. I struggled with prioritizing drama. With looking at the person closest to me as an enemy and then thinking so negatively that I hurt myself. Do I really want to rush back to that? There’s a better normal ahead and I want to get there to see it. I want to live it and be grateful for it and to feel it in my bones and be happy.

Take time to feel it. Close your eyes and visualize your higher self living in his or her new normal. Maybe the new normal you’re looking forward to is prioritizing sleep. Close your eyes and imagine waking up and feeling well rested. Fell the comfort you feel as you sleep into your clean pajamas and slide under the sheets in preparation for a full night’s rest. Or maybe your new normal is being confident. Visualize looking at yourself in the mirror and feeling grateful and proud of the person staring back at you. Better yet, look in the mirror right now and pay yourself a compliment. Even if the compliment doesn’t feel genuine yet, look at your reflection and imagine how it will feel when you believe it.

I hope we’ll all take the time to consider what we’re rushing back to and how we’ll evolve during this time. We owe it to ourselves to be the best, happiest, and brightest we can be. Comment below what parts of “normal” you’ll leave behind and how you plan on moving forward.