I used to hate slogans- yeuk! So trite. So beneath me! So…hey, wait a minute…effective!
Slogans are brilliant because they have been distilled down into something that is easy to remember. And when we are struggling or in distress, we need things that are easy to remember. Trust me, I know! I have taken on many slogans over the years and used them to great effect. But I have also found that sometimes it’s really helpful to combine slogans together. Like these two: One day at a time. This too shall pass.
Now, why did my brain mash these two together? One Day at a time reminds me to live in this day only. That way if I am freaking out about not having enough but I look around me and see that I have everything I need FOR TODAY, then I can calm down and get into some gratitude. Or if things are really crappy today then I can assure myself that I can do anything for twelve hours or so and that tomorrow will be another day.
But in times like we are going through right now I need the added benefit of stepping back and taking a big picture view too. Which leads us to: This too shall pass.
This too shall pass tells me that …well.. this is going to pass! I don’t get to decide how long it is going to take or what’s going to be on the other side of “this” but I know that it won’t be forever. At one point in my life I had the sense that this state I was in or the state of things was going to last forever. And I didn’t even know it- it was just built in. A therapist had to point the belief out to me and challenge it. Wow! How awesome was that— that the depression and anxiety I was feeling wasn’t going to last forever???
So there it is: One day at a time this is going to pass. And for today I am quite content. It has cooled off and is raining. Toast is a warm bundle in my lap. Sunny is mewing and playing on the floor behind me. I have enough money and food for today. It’s quiet in my home right now. I have a few things like Creative Bubbles, a screenwriting workshop, and a Swicthfoot concert to look forward to this week. And, eventually, life circumstances will change again and we’ll see what comes!