The gifts I received from the COVID-19 crisis

Today is my first working from home day alone in 8 months! I can’t help but reflecting on these past months. I would like to begin by acknowledging and honoring those who have been deeply affected by COVID-19, in no way I want to minimise your pain and what you are going through or have been through. I would like to suggest that the below is only my personal learning journey from this crisis and my experience through tough times in general. If anything, I wish to inspire you to open your heart and mind to a shift in your life. I want to take some pressure off and tell you that life is on your side, if you look in the right place. I want to tell you that no matter where you are in life, a shift is possible. I also want to add that you are never alone!

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible” Francis of Assisi

I live in Melbourne and we are still in lock down with gradual release and this Monday was the first day back to school for my daughter in months. I go to work on other days, so Tuesday is the day I work on my coaching practice. My mum was stuck (I say stuck because she was so desperate to go back to her home) with us for 6 months, my husband was on and off work, I was on and off work while my daughter was doing remote learning at home. The house was always busy and noisy as everyone talked on the phone, listening to radio, videos, having meetings, watching TV etc often almost all at once…. We live in a very small house and every sound is heard! On top of this, we are right next to the train station but strangely this has never bothered me. May be the sound of the hundred’s of birds calling, singing, chirping has captured my attention more.

I never thought I would be able to accommodate so many changes in my environment as I see myself as an introvert, needing lots of time for myself to recharge before I can interact with others again. I love being in silence, may be because I spend long days in a classroom of 30 kinder children among other adults. But between my mum’s radio all day long and loud chats with my aunties, my husband’s long and loud discussions/chats with however many people he can talk to on the phone in the day, my daughter’s music, TV shows…my own meetings, calls and our own interactions, sometimes positive and sometimes negative…I can’t help but think back on this COVID-19 journey for my family and I so far.

Apart from the busyness of the home environment, we had our own challenges of course, including financial, our mental health state, the restrictions we faced like everyone, the need to adapt to these new changes instantly, my own work challenges etc…. But I look back and I can’t help but being grateful for everything. I have great reasons to be, my family and I are in great health and everything worked out regardless of the pain and inconveniences we faced or the outcomes we had. So from this place of deep appreciation, I want to reflect on what I learned about myself and life from the COVID-19 crisis? Can I allow myself to see the gifts of COVID-19? Can I turn my trash into treasure?

After a chat with a therapist, she said to me that I seem to take every situation and turn it into an opportunity to do something. I thought of this for a moment and I concluded that I have always done that. However for the first time I did not do more as I planned to do. I started with the attitude of doing more, I only knew hard work and I tend to try even harder in challenging times but it didn’t work. The shift that happened within me and therefore the positive change in the areas of my life, was because for the first time I took the opportunity to BE more instead of DO more. This worked like magic, somehow I have accomplished more by doing less. I’ll discuss this in another post but for now I want to look back and just appreciate all the things that was made possible to me through the current global pandemic:

Because of COVID-19, I developed and strengthened the below Skills within me:

1. Flexible thinking
2. Confidence
3. Resilience
4. Kindness
5. Gratitude
6. Listening
7. Empathy
8. Asking for help
9. Vulnerability
10. Self-discipline

Because of COVID-19 and my personal life crisis (small or big) over the past 8 months, I am a Better Version of Myself . “A bad day for the Ego is a great day for the hero inside of us” Robin Sharma. The following is why I am a better version of myself:

1. Flexible thinking allows me to let go of my ideals and be more accommodating for others in my life. This skill has made me a better human being and coach. It also allows me to live life more peacefully!
2. An open heart allows me to receive the bounty of life like I live in a magical world. This is the power of Gratitude and Vulnerability creating more joy and peace in my life.
3. An open mind allows me to see and choose the possibilities in life and when I am vibrating at the right frequency, it prompts me to make the right decision for my own success. Having witness this phenomenon in my own life, this has strengthened my belief and confidence to share this with others through my program with an intention to create an impact in the outer world.
4. Kindness, Listening and Empathy allowed me to be more attentive to my family, friends and clients, which in turn create a genuine connection and possibly have a ripple effect in the outer world creating more genuine connection.
5. Kindness, Listening and Empathy allowed me to be more attentive to my own needs and connect with my inner wisdom. This intimate relationship with myself has made me more confident and allowed me to be more fun, loving and caring towards others.
6. I learned that a crisis can either break us or make us, but the choice is always ours no matter the challenge or outcome. Therefore I live my life with the power in my hands, knowing that the resources I need are within me. “With great responsibility comes great power” Jim Kwik. Self-discipline allows me to use my gift of Choice.
7. I learned that life is always abundant, I just needed to focus on the right source of supply. Now I will never run out of the abundance of life no matter whats in my bank account (Although I do intend to increase this as well and I know it will! Because if the less I have the more I give, the more I give the more I have and the more I have the more I give and the cycle will keep going)
8. I learned that the Universe is progressive and it evolves through all of us and that when I accept and live with this principle, I am always a winner because I am always evolving with life, moving forward on my path. So I am a student of life and I know I will never be disappointed as there will always be something for me to learn.

Because/Despite of COVID-19, I was able to do the following:

1. Deepened my relationship with my family as we spend more time together and go through our challenges as a family
2. Deepened my relationship with my mum as I guide her through her fear of being stuck here with us and the emotions that came with it
3. Connect deeply with what brings me joy as I find joy in the simple and free things in life
4. Connect deeply with my purpose as I get clearer and clearer on what I want to become as a person not as job
5. Connect with friends and colleagues in an authentic and meaningful way as I stay open and as I ask for help
6. Connect with nature more through walks, or just sitting outside and listen to the birds, contemplate the sky, trees, flowers, plants….
7. Drive to work without traffic
8. S.L.O.W D.O.W.N and completely embody my own approach to life and see the benefits unfold for me once again
9. Connect deeply with my inner strength as I build confidence in who I am becoming
10. Complete my Course
11. Own a block of land with the house building starting in December (We almost lost the land and our deposit)
12. Pay my bills and make it through my financial challenges (We even had to take what was in my daughter’s money box to buy food at some point)

We all have our very own “COVID-19” crisis (be it a relationship issue, a health issue, a financial issue etc…) and whatever you’re going through I send you strength and clarity. But I want to emphasise that if we are in the right mindset, the challenge just get easier to go through. I have seen a lot of things made possible this year in my life which I had no idea of how to make them possible. I am convinced that with the right attitude towards life, we can change our life around and create a life that we desire.

” The purpose of memory isn’t to remember our past, the purpose of memory is to figure out what went wrong when something went wrong, so you don’t duplicate it in the future” Jordan Peterson

As long as we learn from our challenges, we are heading in the right direction to a successful and peaceful life.

What’s holding you back in life? What have you learned so far from your own “COVID-19” crisis?

With much love and TO THE BEST IN YOU

Corinne xoxo

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