The C Word: What we’re grateful for in this new ‘now’

Hello! Another week, another #TheCWord post. Just as I wholeheartedly believe it is so important to share our own personal experiences at the moment, the struggles and challenges we’re facing to offer comfort and support to each other, I also believe it is so, so important to keep a big old positive, hopeful outlook and look forward to the future. I’m usually someone that tries their hardest to practice gratitude and positivity every single day: I always see the best in people, I try and find lessons from every hard situation and I always remind myself of everything I’m grateful for to make my outlook as positive as possible. However, I am also the worst at slipping out of that positive mindset when I’m feeling overwhelmed. It’s an overwhelming time right now for all of us at different points and for different reasons, and I didn’t want that positivity and hope to get lost. So today, I thought I’d discuss the things we’re hugely grateful for in this new ‘now’ we’ve found ourselves in.

What do you feel your soul smile about at this otherwise difficult time? What’s keeping you going? What aspects of this new lifestyle do you want to bring with you into life after lockdown?

I asked these questions and more over on my Instagram, and lots of you got in touch to offer the wonderful glimmers of hope and positivity you’re finding in this new ‘now’. And I had a think about mine. Here’s hoping today’s post is jam-packed full of positivity, kindness and support – let’s get cracking, shall we?

The Rant

From my experience over the last few weeks, I’ve got to admit I’ve been living a rollercoaster of emotions. Sometimes I believe my boyfriend deserves a medal, because I’ve been up and down faster than a hyper kid on a seesaw over the last few weeks. I don’t deal well with change, I’m an anxious person which means I like to be able to try and help control everything I can, and I often feel intense sadness when I hear of awful things going on in the world. All of these factors mean I’m finding it hard to keep myself positive 24/7 – as I’m sure we’re all experiencing. I just want to wave a magic wand and cure the world of its horribleness so everyone can be happy, but sadly, this situation is out of our control. So, I can 100% say that the last few weeks haven’t been a happy clappy, zen-like time where I’ve felt utter gratitude every second of every day, but I have tried my best to keep as positive and grateful as possible.

There are a few ways I’ve been trying to keep myself as upbeat, positive and hopeful as possible recently. Again, it has not by any means been plain sailing, but these tips might help:

It’s hard to practice gratitude and positivity when you’re experiencing a challenging period. We are all experiencing an unprecedented challenge and we’re all just muddling through as best as we can. This is an unfathomably hard time for millions of people, and we’re all praying that we’ll get through this as soon as is possible. But one thing that’s really good to do when times are difficult, is to try and look forward to a brighter future. Knowing there are times ahead when things won’t be as unfathomably challenging is the thing we can all cling to. So that’s why I wanted today’s post to be about looking forward, to be about appreciating the small things right now that are keeping us going and to lift ourselves out of the overwhelming emotions.

Taking these things we’re so very grateful for right now allows us to see exactly what we might want to take from this time as lessons for the future. The future us will appreciate these things so much more, cherishing them – so now is a good time to bring a renewed sense of what’s important into the time ahead. So, with those things in mind, here are some things I want to bring into life after lockdown:

I wanted to hear from you, too. I wanted to know the things you’re grateful for, so we can all share in the things that are still beautiful in this life right now. I wanted to also know the elements of your life now that you want to bring into life after lockdown, because I think it’s important that we’re looking forward to a more hopeful future. So, I reached out on Instagram – and the responses were beautiful.

The Other Story

Let’s talk gratitude first of all. What is there to be grateful for over this challenging period? When asked if you’re welcoming a change of pace at this time, allowing some time to slow down, 84% of you said that it’s good for you but 16% of you were struggling to relax to this new change of lifestyle. It’s a very uncertain period, so I completely understand the struggle to enjoy the space we now have for ourselves, because it feels bittersweet. Most of us would be crying out for some time off given normal circumstances, but it’s really difficult at the moment. It’s really good to see the things that you are grateful for, though. A lot of them speak to the simplest pleasures of human existence:

I think it’s in times like this we go to the root of what really matters. Our loved ones, the simple pleasures of life: like reading a book or sitting in the garden – and the financial security of saying we still have a job and a roof over our heads. Things, of course, that we are always grateful for every second of our lives, but things we forget to pay intense gratitude and time towards because for many of us, these are somewhat ‘given’. It’s a marker of privilege, and something we need to check in with ourselves and realise in times like this.

There was also a huge focus on personal well-being, and our mental health. Space we’re grateful for now, because a chance to take stock and stop the busy life has made us realise the significance of looking after ourselves and caring for our well-being:

When asked whether there were any aspects of this new lifestyle we find ourselves in that you want to take with you into life after lockdown, an overwhelming 95% of you said ‘yes’. And it’s beautiful hearing the things you want to bring with you. They’re all focused on our well-being, treating ourselves and others with kindness, and observations we’ve realised in the last few weeks of aspects of life before that can be altered to become kinder for all of us in the future:

The Positivity Lens

Emphasis on devoting quality time to our loved ones, quality time on ourselves, being kinder to ourselves and others and forging the way for a new society that treats humans with a little more kindness and ease are all recurring themes in your answers. This is a beautiful thing to see. Even in the darkest of days, there are beautiful, simple things that we can be grateful for, which delve straight to the root of what it means to be human. A slower pace of life has led to a deepened gratitude, a stronger kindness and a greater hope for a simpler, more positive future.

This is something we can all cling to in the coming difficult weeks and months ahead. This is something we can internally smile about, light a fire in our wee souls and carry with us into a more positive future. Happier times will come. But for now, we have all of this to be grateful for.

Finally, I asked you if you had any strategies or tips on how to keep yourself positive and upbeat over this period, and you had some wonderful pieces of advice for us all to take on board. I’ll leave you with these – they may just help:

And finally, finally, I wanted to end with a beautiful paragraph that @emrharvey sent to me about what she’s doing to keep herself positive and work through her emotions over this tricky period:

I hope this post has been positive, hopeful, warm and supportive. I hope you can walk away from reading this with some thoughts on what you’re grateful for, what you want to see in the more positive future, and I hope that you can feel a little more uplifted. Sending you my love and I’ll be back with another post on Friday.