"Normal" wasn't working

It’s no secret that I work two jobs. Yesterday, I had a friend tell me that I was a “wonder woman” because she witnessed on my social media that I was constantly on the road, working, but somehow managing to travel in the meantime. What I don’t normally talk about is how often I have conversations with myself to slow down. Which seems strange, but how frequently are you telling yourself to take a break?

In the culture at large, especially since we live in a Capitalistic society, we have this constant need to be busy. We praise those who can get a massive amount of tasks done in a small amount of time. There’s an expectation that the busier you are, the more productive you’ll make yourself and further you’ll get in your life.

In our country of freedom, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests bereavement leave (time off for a funeral) as three days for immediate family and one day for other family members. That means, if you lose a parent or a child, your company should allow you to take three days off of work, with the expectation that you’ll be back after that… or you won’t be paid.

Just think about that.

Losing a family member can be one of the most intense, life-changing events of your life, but there’s a stigma to return back to “normal” after a couple of days.

As we’re going through this global pandemic, people are starting to wake up. But why has it taken something catastrophic to stop the treadmill?

No matter if you see it on TV, read it in the news, or feel it yourself, it’s been statistically proven that mental health has been on a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. With an increase in fear, loss of community, financial concerns, and emotional quarantine, we are sitting with thoughts we’ve never been faced with. While we’ve been going through our lives numbing our emotions with staying busy, chasing corporate success, or using alcohol, gluttony, and sex as something to hide behind.

Now we’ve been forced to sit with ourselves and who we are.

Through this, a lot of people are recognizing that they have troubles in their marriage and don’t have a community of fellowship.

Through this, people have recognized that their two hour commute to work everyday was so life-taking.

Through this, people have realized that they might not be happy with who they are and what they’re doing.

We keep saying we want things to go back to “normal”, but normal wasn’t working.

Corporate America is shifting and politics are being torn apart, but why has this pause been so important to our world? Because we needed a reset. While there is so much tragedy happening because of this, there is also opportunity to explore the pause. Whether that means redefining your faith, your career, your marriage, or who you are, this is the chance to reset everything.

Everything is being stripped away as we know it and it’s a moment to see that ground zero is a place for opportunity. When the world was “normal”, when was the last time that you said “no” to a time commitment because your mental health wasn’t in the best state? When was the time you took to take the morning to spend time reading your Bible, processing through your thoughts, or spending time with your family?

If the world starts becoming “okay” again, I think we need to shift what “normal” was. In fact, I think we need to throw our old definition of normal out the freaking window.

The stigma of working ourselves to death, slaving away from a set standard of 8:00 to 5:00 and sitting in the car for 2 hours a day in order to be productive, is gone. Companies should realize that work / life balance can include working from home. We need to realize that productivity can include other sectors of your life besides working your hands to the bone.

The stigma of numbing our emotions with alcohol, gluttony, and hanging out with friends needs to be gone too. We need to sit with who we are, fully experiencing our shame, traumas, joyous occasions, and roots. With so many outlets of avoidance gone, we need to have the courage to take this opportunity to process our character.

The culture of rushing ourselves and each other through life needs to end. When did we become so addicted to having an Amazon package at our door in less than 24 hours? Why is it that we put time frames on people grieving? Who are we questioning when a career or family hasn’t progressed to the standards set for us by the world?

The stigma of social class importance needs to leave. While we’ve been working our whole lives to provide our family with a beautiful home, why have we had so much trouble being locked inside them these past couple of months? We need to build a foundation of trust, love, and care with relationships instead of with swimming pools, walk-in closets, and fancy cars.

COVID-19 has changed a lot of things, but we have the opportunity to allow it to change us too.

We have the chance to reset what we believe in, who we are, how we deal with our emotions, and what we prioritize in our lives. We have the option to change what we want the future to look like in our career, families, and pace of life. We have the chance to jump off the merry-go round. We have the opening to take a step-back, realize what wasn't working for us and for our world.

We get to determine what we want to be the new "normal".