Okay, so clearly by now we are all well aware of what’s going on in our country and yes, this is something like we have never seen before..at least not my generation and I would have to admit that it’s a crazy, scary thing to think that the entire country as we know it is shutting down out of fear of an illness spreading so fast that it is taking the lives of people.

What’s also mind boggling to me is the amount of people that I have heard say they are going”stir crazy” after only a few days of the official “lock down” as some are referring to it.

People are literally taking to their social media platforms and pleading temporary insanity because they have to be in their homes.

So it got me to thinking…why is that?

Why are people so bothered and driven “stir crazy ” so soon?

For me personally, I am okay. Over the last few years I have slowed down A LOT and so being in the comfort of my home is literally one of my greatest joys in life…seriously.

But for some, they have reached a point, only days in that they are feeling like they HAVE to be out and about doing something, somewhere other than their homes.

These are the people that I want to grab the attention of.

I get it. You’re social butterflies…you’re extroverts..being out somewhere around the masses gives you life. But at what point did it become such a necessity to life?

I am a strong believer in the old saying that “everything happens for a reason” and I can’t help but to feel that this pandemic is no mistake. Are the deaths that came with this tragic…of course. It is never easy to lose a loved one. However, when I think about the state our country was in prior to this, I almost have to believe that a temporary shut down of our country was necessary.

Hear me out.

I get that major plans were cancelled, trips were postponed, etc but our nation was literally going stir crazy prior to this epidemic.

I think about the all time highs that women of color were disappearing into sex trafficking was reaching. My own community and those that are close by have recently been reported to have had several cases of kidnapping attempts and actual women gone missing. Children are being taken only later to have their bodies found within hundreds of feet from their own homes. Ride share crimes are being reported,drunk driving and texting while driving  has taken lives and innocent people are being killed by the very individuals that took an oath to protect us..the police.

I’m not saying that this shut down will end crime as we know it..that’s definitely not going to be the case but I do believe that life as we knew it was moving at a pace that was too fast. Too many terrifying circumstances were becoming the norm and I’m not sure how much of society was actually taking the time to be grateful that they were not victims of the terror.

With this shut down of the nation came frustration yes, grocery shopping has become an episode of the huger games and humanity showed it’s ugly, selfish colors but I believe in spite of those things we are being told something.

We need to slow ourselves down.

Life is so much more than going out bar hopping and clubbing, driving a fancy car, or taking leisurely trips. Life is a gift to us and each day that we are blessed to experience it, should be recognized as something of significant value.

Of course I’m not talking about any of the people that are being laid off, or that are unable to work due to this crisis, my heart and prayers go out to anyone that is suffering.

I’m just referencing the people that have such on-the-go, non-stop lives that somehow believe that not being able to be out socializing, or having what they consider “fun” is somehow going to drive them up the wall.

The best thing we can do right now with this time is center ourselves.

Find our peace. Spend time with ourselves and our loved ones and find out what’s missing from our lives.

There could be so much that we were blindly missing because the pace at which our lives are moving is too fast.

Now is the time to embrace your life from a different perspective.

Use this time constructively. Use this time to nourish your soul. Slow your body and your mind down and take advantage of the calm.  Find your peaceful vibration and learn how to get there whenever necessary.

Going “stir crazy because you are being forced to slow down is not a societal problem, it’s a YOU thing.

You are literally going to be okay and I just urge you find the silver lining in everything that seems negative.  As a people we are going to get through this but it is during this time that we may need to take a good look at ourselves and our lives and finally face those things internally that we may have been avoiding.

Now is the time to do those things that you may have been procrastinating on.

Now is the time to have that “talk” you may have been avoiding.

Now is the time that your child needs your attention.

Now is the time to give that person that quality time.

Even though the current state of the country seems to be broken, you don’t have to be. Your life may need a moment to “slow down” and recover from traumatic things that you may have been suppressing. Or maybe your life has been drastically changed and you haven’t been dealing with your new normal properly.

Whatever it could be find that and use this time to acknowledge it, address it, fix it, heal it.

Take care of yourselves..and each other.

2 Chronicles 7:13-15 GNB

Whenever I hold back the rain or send locusts to eat up the crops or send an epidemic on my people, if they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again. I will watch over this Temple and be ready to hear all the prayers that are offered here.

Until Next Time,

Peace & Blessings

La’Ray Renee