We are now at the end of the third week of ‘social distancing,’ and the closing down of all non-essential businesses and services. Our thoughts and best wishes are with all of you, as you face the challenges of living moment by moment through this crisis, living in close proximity with your family – with no escapes, and no child-care, and for many facing job loss and financial uncertainty. These are indeed challenging times.

As a community, locally and worldwide, we have felt the bite of anxiety, about what this will mean for ourselves and for our families. As many have now said, that anxiety is perfectly normal – there is anxiety because we do not know precisely what the future holds. We do not know how long we will be asked to stay home – we don’t know how bad it will get before it gets better.

For others, the anxiety is giving place to low mood, and despair. The cycle through anxiety, to depression, is normal, at times it is almost as if our bodies can’t continue in high drive adrenalin, and eventually our mood plummets. If that is you, please know that you are not alone. We are living in new and challenging times, and feelings of anxiety, and of despair and depression are common.

Feelings of anxiety and depression, are fueled by uncertainty. Here, as an antidote to uncertainty, are 3 things we can be sure of.

1 – We know that this too will pass. – Knowing that this current crisis will not last forever and that it will eventually come to an end, is an excellent way to combat the anxiety and uncertainty of not knowing. We know that this will not last forever. What goes up, must come down – the dark of night gives way to the morning sun, winter draws to a close and summer comes again. This too, the COVID 19 pandemic, will pass. It will come to an end and what a celebration we will have when we get there.

2 – You are not alone – we are all in this together. In our usual 9 to 5 madness we rarely check in on our neighbour or drop food off for the elderly, but now in the tumult of this immediate health crisis we are reminded that we are not alone, we are all in this together, and at this time we are witnessing the outpouring of community concern, and generosity for the most vulnerable. Remember who the real enemy is? It isn’t the person grabbing the last roll of toilet paper, it is the virus – we are in this together, we are fighting through this together, and you are not alone.

3 – We are stronger than we know. When the work out at the gym is easy, our muscles grow lax, when we push ourselves to try harder, we grow in strength, courage, and resiliency. At this time, when we are all being called upon to give of ourselves and to stretch ourselves, we will discover, that we are stronger than we know – that each of us, each of you, are stronger than you know, and that together we are a force to be reckoned with. Hold on to hope, hold on to courage, this too will pass.