It feels like a lot of people are struggling recently. Much-reduced daylight hours, a lingering pandemic and 18-plus months of uncertainty have created some deep undercurrents of change and questioning. This reading seems like a reflection on how those things are affecting us all.
We have, this week, to contend with the mental and emotional challenges that beset us on both sides: anxiety and a tendency to give ourselves a hard time on the one hand, the feeling of stuckness – plus the resulting desire just to stop the world and take some time out when things get tough – on the other. What we are encouraged to try to keep at the centre of it all is ‘virtue’ in terms of our sense of purpose, our honesty (with ourselves and others, regarding our needs and limitations) and our strength of character.
In essence, we might need to give ourselves a loving pep talk this week; gee ourselves up a little. It’s good to acknowledge the difficulties we face, and we shouldn’t try to pretend they don’t exist, but it’s also good to be reminded of our own agency. There are things we can do to take care of ourselves (we were reminded of that last week!) and we may need to help ourselves out by spending some time on those things now. We’ll thank ourselves for it later.
Have a good week and stay safe x
Louise Norgate 