It’s that time again, to shift, readjust, and get uncomfortable because we are in yet another time of transition. But then again, when are we not? We have to admit that though life is constantly changing, the last year has put change on steroids… forget decision fatigue, we’re in full blown decision total knock out.
We also have to admit that we have been looking forward to going back to some form of “normalcy.” We’re not talking about going back to normal in all aspects of life (because we can’t unknow what we now know) but more in the sense of daily routines, social activities without strict restrictions, running simple errands, interacting with the community and not having to make a multitude of decisions based on raw emotions and fear.
With the world slowly opening back up and the spring sun shining longer and brighter, it’s not surprising for us to see our calendars filling up. The kids have been cooped up long enough, it’s time to risk it for some outdoor play dates! Family members are getting vaccinated and sunny bbq’s are on the horizon. Yet as we watch our calendar squares get written over, we have also started to notice anxiety creeping back in.
It’s not that we don’t both love to be social, we do! As different as we are, we both crave the love of dear friends and family but just in different doses. However, one perk during the forced lockdown was not needing an excuse to skip social events… it felt like a weight was lifted off our shoulders.
For Ming-Cee, as social as she may be, she is taking the time to invest into her root cause and heal so she will have the energy to enjoy her social life one day. And for Ming-Wai, she is practicing to honor her true voice and set boundaries in order to live purposefully instead of reactively. Either way, we both found benefits to the less-social schedule and secretly breathed a sigh of relief that it came without having to disappoint friends and family by flaking or saying “sorry, we can’t.”
But now we find ourselves here at the crossroads of getting back to “normal” life when we now realize that for us, less is more. So knowing what we know now, how will we find balance between quickly filling our schedules to full capacity, or making tough, uncomfortable decisions?
The anxiety comes in because we now know what we need. The time, money, energy, space to give ourselves what we truly desire to feel good. The world will open up and we will not have the pandemic doing our dirty work for us anymore. We will need all our courage and the tools we've gathered thus far to support our new and healthier lifestyle.
We will have to take the time to really prioritize what is important to us and check-in with our whys. Our negative reel may sound different (louder, softer, meaner, sneakier) so we’ll have to keep it in check. We will put the trust we’ve been working on to the test… and it’s a scary step when you haven’t trusted yourself in a while. And we will have to use our voices so we expect to feel uncomfortable and know we will probably disappoint a few people we love along the way.
Since this is all new territory for us, we expect to fall off the wagon and discover unexpected challenges. Thankfully we have our ming+ming community to support us and we are far enough along on our journeys to know the effort is always worth it.
If you want to know more about the tool we have used to help ease us through yet another transitional period, keep following along! We’ll be sharing that tool with you in the next couple newsletters.
We would also love to hear if you too have noticed a struggle transitioning back to normalcy and where you feel the most stuck. And if you are interested in a 2-hour workshop where we share our tools to help you prioritize and become more sure-footed as you transition into your new normal, please respond back to this email with a simple “Yes!”
With love,
Ming-Wai + Ming-Cee