Things happen. Life happens. Plans don’t go as we think they should or thought they would. A virus sweeps the Earth and millions loose jobs and financial security. Parents and guardians are suddenly responsible for homeschooling their children. Quarantine means staying indoors, staying put, and wearing masks for the occasional trip to buy essentials. The waves of disappointment and fear and frustration mount.

Standing on the beach, we see the wave coming. But we are so afraid of what the wave might feel like that we run away from it.

The wave crashes on the sand and we notice that it lost its power. It dissipates and heads back into the ocean. Why did we run?

So it is with emotions. The brain thinks that waves of emotions are scary, that something might happen that will be painful if we stand in the wave and feel it. It thinks we can’t handle possible pain.

The truth is that standing on the beach and allowing the wave to wash over our ankles allows the pain, the disappointment, the fear, and the frustration to dissipate.

What waves about COVID do you have in your sea? What could possibly happen by staying put on the beach and facing and feeling them?

It matters!