How the Pandemic Has Shaken People Into Alignment
If 2020 and 2021 didn’t shake you into alignment in some way, then I’m going to encourage you to read this blog post with a glass half full. I’m going to discuss three ways that a global pandemic could have helped you choose a life of living in alignment and in your power.
But first, what does living in alignment mean? Living your life in alignment is living a life as your authentic self. This includes putting your ego to rest, burying societal pressures, and shifting your perspectives.
Living in alignment is listening to your intuition while thinking, feeling, and doing exactly what you want. This isn’t to be confused with “balance.” To be quite honest, I’ve always confused alignment with balance up until this global pandemic.
When people think of balance, something that quickly comes to mind is work-life balance – proportionally living your life. It’s also easy to think that if we have balance in our life that we will be happy. But living in alignment is what will actually make us happy.
Alignment helps you identify who you are, what you want, what your true values are, and what you want to prioritize in your life while being able to hit mute on outside noise (i.e. other’s expectations or societal norms).
An awakening period.
The last two years have caused an influx of people to pivot into an awakening period. And isn’t it interesting to think that as a planet we’ve all had to go through this together? This didn’t just happen in one country, one state, one city, one zip code.
We ALL faced this.
2020 and 2021 was like hell on Earth, but wrapped in bacon. Everything wrapped in bacon tastes better, you won’t convince me otherwise. And although bacon isn’t kosher, figuring out what a life of alignment looks like amidst a two year shit show, is kosher AF.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one in three Americans displayed signs of clinical depression or anxiety. And although that is a dismal statistic, more people have shifted their focus to aid their mental health. Which leads me to the first way that a global pandemic could have helped you live in alignment.
#1 People put their mental health first.
The pandemic has not only caused a shit ton of physical suffering, but pure anguish. More people are now discussing mental health and wellbeing, which is helping break down stigmas surrounding mental illnesses.
Opening this dialogue has allowed people a safer space to talk about their mental health and ask for help.
By focusing on mental health, people are believing more in life is possible, and they’re getting professional help when needed.
Taking the time to work on your mental health is courageous and brave. And by doing so, you’re aligning yourself with the life you really want to live. How? By learning who you really are. You will see sides of yourself you didn’t know existed, you will resolve traumas, and you’ll find what you want to prioritize in life.
Speaking of priorities……
#2 People have prioritized their connections with loved ones.
Social distancing made it where many of us lived isolating lives. As social distancing rules have lifted, we’ve all naturally shifted from isolation to connection. We’ve craved bonds, nurtured friendships, and prioritized family relationships more than ever before.
A study showed that more than 60% of people strengthened their relationships with family and friends, in the course of the pandemic.
I don’t know about you, but I have certainly chosen connection and community over almost anything else. I’ve made sure to check in on my friends, spend time with my family, meet new people, and say “yes” more than “no” to new networking opportunities.
Making the conscious decision to prioritize any aspect of your life is living a life in alignment.
And one area of life that was amplified was work and career choices. Which leads me into the third area where people started living more in alignment.
#3 People have up and quit their job.
It didn’t take long for many people to realize they could work their current jobs from home. Not all, (obviously) but many.
A record 4.4 million people quit their jobs in September, according to the Labor Department’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
Ultimately, the pandemic has lead people to take stock of their lives. Employees are taking a hard look at their jobs and realizing “I don’t want to do this anymore.” I really wanted to say that employees are taking a hard look at their jobs and saying “fuck this shit” but I know my Mom reads my blog posts and texts me to “watch my fucking language”, so I’m keepin’ it cool 💅🏼.
Anyways, registering that what you do for 40+ hours per week isn’t what you want to do and consciously choosing what you want to do is living in alignment.
I am one of the millions of people who up and quit their job. My job was something I really loved for seven years. However, teaching personal finance was more aligned with what I wanted to be doing. I spent equal hours each day on each job. One job paid me a lot of money. The other one could pay me a lot of money, and I was more aligned with it.
I couldn’t follow the money any longer. I had to make the choice where I’d wake up each day in full alignment with what I wanted to do each and every day. And it was this – writing blog posts, creating infographics, webinars, courses, and answering as many questions I can in the Instagram comment lobby, all to help others on their journey to financial independence.
If you’ve been waiting for a sign to make changes in your life, THIS IS IT.
Yes, the pandemic fucking sucked. But if you can use the struggles to redirect your life into what YOU WANT, I’m certain you’ll live a life of alignment.
And living a life in alignment is what breeds happiness.
By choosing to pivot and live life differently, that doesn’t mean life will suddenly be perfect. I’d hate to give you that impression. But, I can tell you it will make a substantial difference.
My life isn’t perfect after doing all three of these things. I have incongruences and struggles. I have my own stressors and fist fights with my pillows (specifically the body pillow). But if you can take away one thing from all of this, it’s this: Alignment is not about perfection – it’s about direction.
Choosing to live a life where are authentically YOU and where you are intuitively listening to what you want and what your values are, is moving in the direction towards a happier life. And the cool part is, these will always be changing. What you want and what you value will change as time passes, which means you’ll have to redirect again. This pandemic put a fork in the road for a lot of people, and it’s up to you to choose to redirect yourself.
And if you get good at redirecting yourself now, when conflict and friction show up again in your life, you’ll be valiant enough to make the adjustments needed to get back into alignment.
Just as your car drives smoothly when your wheels are in alignment, you too perform better when your wants, values, desires, and sense of being are also in alignment.
So here’s my parting question: Do you feel like your life is in alignment? If not, what could you do to get there?
Write it down and start executing.
Cheers.
