“So how’s the quarantine going for you”? This is a question that seems to be the first thing out of everyone’s mouth these days. Kind of like the typical, “How’s the weather?” or “Did you see that the Panthers hired a new coach?” It seems to be our new norm right now. None of us know just how long this is going to last. Some seem to think it will last well into the end of the year, and others seem to think we are looking at being back to normal in a few short weeks.
This got me thinking…. What is “normal” anyway? Will we ever go back to “normal” after this? But how about this one… Do we even WANT to go back to “normal” after this?
I don’t know about you, but normal for a lot of people just isn’t cutting it. As clients sit on my couch, day in and day out, what most of them are working on is creating a new normal. They are sick of where their families and marriages are. They are sick of the faulty thinking that has kept them captive for most of their lives. They are sick of things like anxiety, depression, and fear. It takes a lot of work to actively change these things. Everything in us is drawn to just keep doing the norm. It is stressful to change, especially when we have stressful jobs, baseball practice every night of the week, and screaming toddlers. But what if I told you that this “quarantine” is exactly the perfect remedy to the excuses we make that keeps us from change? All we need is a little intentionality in this season.
Intentionality. That is my husband and I’s word for the year. I know, I know… what are the chances? Intentionality means to be deliberate or purposeful in daily mindsets and actions. Why do we need intentionality? And why on earth would we choose such a word? We chose this word because we found ourselves in a season at the end of last year where we were barely present. It was more about getting off the “going through the motions” train. You know, the one Matthew West sings about in his song “Motions.” We were in winging it mode…emotionally disconnected to everything mode… just not present mode… You feel me?
Really what got us there was life! In the past 5 years we had moved to Charlotte, both started new careers and on top of that in the past 2 years we have lost a dad, a sister, 2 grandmothers, and 2 dogs. Talk about change! We were forced to change. Kind of like what we are being forced to do today in our society. Our normal is changing, and we can either do it with an intentional mindset, or let it sweep us around until we completely lose sight of what we are doing or where we are going.
This is my encouragement to you…. Take this time and be intentional with it. In the next few weeks I will be blogging more specifically how you can be more intentional with this time in regard to your marriage, your family, your friends, your mindsets and much more. For the time being, I leave you with this question… If you could wake up 3 months from now, what would be different? I know it is tempting to say that we would be back to normal… but is normal actually working in your life? If you could snap your fingers like Thanos (Where my nerds at?) what would life look like? Would you be closer to your kids? Would you be super hot and heavy with your spouse? Would you be eating better? Would your house be organized, FINALLY! Would you be prioritizing time with Jesus everyday? Would you be reading more vs spending all your time on social media? Would you be comparing yourself less to others? The sky’s the limit. The only thing getting in your way is not making a plan and then being intentional with your precious time during this season of quarantine.