Tag: pandemic

Trust Yourself

In these final few weeks of 2021, take some time to sit with yourself and just be.

Settle your heart and accept all that has been and

Renew your hope for all that could be.

Seek wisdom and listen to wise counsel; then trust yourself and that muse in your soul. 

Some dreams are so big and some callings so powerful that you’ll be paving the way into unfamiliar territory; so of course everyone won’t understand. 

Trust the seed that God has placed in your heart.

Drown out your fears and ignore naysayers’ worries.

Believe that even in a pandemic you can deliver something amazing.

Envision the future you desire, and even as you keep climbing, start living in expectation.

You’ve got this. Trust yourself. Get ready to receive.

Expecting Less, Caring More = Grace

During a leadership event I attended this evening, a new acquaintance informed me about a trauma-relief organization for adults that she leads in the Richmond region called Robin’s Hope.

She and her staff are running 20 groups, 7 days a week, mostly virtual she said, to help people with all kinds of grief, trauma and mental distress.

That level of need blew me away, yet it is very real, across the land.

Nod to UNC-Chapel Hill for acknowledging the mental health crisis unfolding on its campus right now.

Perhaps it’s time we individually take on the charge. I challenge you to look around you, my friend, and be extra kind to those who seem a bit sad, stressed, withdrawn or even overly chipper.

We may not be comfortable yet giving random hugs, but random messages of “Hello” “Have a nice day” “I see you” “I will help you” and “I’m here for you” matter.

Let’s do our best to see each other through this global health pandemic. As you extend more grace to others, also be open to receiving it, because you matter, too.

“hand-heart-silhouette-“ by The Internal Struggle is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Do The Work

On this Labor Day, may we find some time to pause, breathe, reflect and reset.

In doing so, perhaps we can lean into what we love about having the opportunity to work and the opportunity to live with purpose.

Regardless of whether our life’s purpose intersects with our day-to-day work, I imagine that one feeds off of the other – with our job providing the resources and space we need to execute our life’s calling, and our calling being shored up and reflected in the formal work we do consistently.

So today, my challenge to you is to be grateful for your opportunities to live, work and be.

In doing so, you contribute to your own wellbeing and that of your loved ones, while in many instances also fostering greater good in the world around us.

Whatever kind of work you do, it matters, especially during a pandemic that has significantly altered over the past two years what formal work looks and feels like, and perhaps has led you to set aside your hopes and dreams.

Today, pick them back up.

Consider what pushes you forward even when you’re tired,

what wakes you up before the alarm sounds,

what brings you joy, in season and out.

That thing called purpose won’t be fickle, and when you recognize it and honor it, neither will you.

Do the work to discover the work you were born to do, then give it your all. And even if you’re in a season of retirement or between formal jobs, explore and discover how this new phase or next chapter still can be deeply meaningful.

Appreciate What Remains

Reflect for a moment where you were this time last year, about a month before the world plunged head first into a pandemic.

I’m sure that for each of us there have been losses and gains, and some wonderful milestones and not-so-great moments; but the beauty of reality is that you’re. still. here.

Trust the timing of your life. 

Take care of your heart. 

Lean into joy.

And as you look back over the year, do as a wise dear friend of mine recommends: Take the “meat from the bones” and be grateful for the goodness. That’s what should remain. 

The Yin and Yang of Night…

I snapped this photo on a drive Wednesday evening (from the passenger seat) and was awed by the beauty of this night sky and vivid moon.
It was a subtle yet powerful reminder that even in times of darkness, beauty can abide.
If we’ll pay attention to the simple and the signifinicant kindnesses we’ve experienced (yes, even in 2020), we’ll acknowledge the truth that the light still wins.

Moon in September. Photographer: Stacy Hawkins Adams

Turtle Logic

My gift from nature this past weekend was “meeting” a turtle on my morning walking route. The encounter was a reminder that whatever our destination or goal, slow and steady can still win the race.

After I passed the creature I began to worry that the cars zooming down this neighborhood road might crush it.

But when I looped back around to check, I saw that the turtle had somehow scurried out of harm’s way and found safety alongside a curb – providing another nugget of wisdom: that even as we persist, it’s vitally important to practice self-care.

I’m sure that turtle will get wherever he or she was headed, and the important thing will be doing so as whole and strong as possible.

May you go, be and do the same.

Meaningful lessons can be found anywhere, in any form – even during a morning encounter with a turtle. – Stacy Hawkins Adams

Let the Written and Spoken Word Soothe You

Are you tired yet? I admit that I am. 
Tired of turning on the news each day to hear more bad news. Tired of carefully plotting trips to the grocery store or pick-up times for carryout meals so that I strategically encounter as few fellow humans as possible. Tired of wondering when this season of semi-isolation and racial unrest and economic uncertainty will ease. 


Yet, what if…just what if this season has come to make us weary? To shake us up? To help us long for and actually create a new normal – a better world borne from the ashes of all that wasn’t working? 


What if this darkness is the precursor to a brighter light and a better way – one that we can’t even imagine because it’s so powerfully positive?  What if we do our part, in this present moment, individually and collectively, scared or brave, to make this so? 


I humbly offer up my part, through the calling I’ve embraced since my elementary school days – my writing. For I know, that I know, that I know that there is beauty and hope and transformation available in and through the written and spoken word. 

As you ponder your next steps and how you can somehow make this pandemic-laden season better for yourself and others, I invite you to bathe yourself in words that help you heal, cling to hope, find some measure of happiness and strengthen your heart. 

I invite you to consume the words offered up here – in a few videos I recently recorded, in a recent blog post and in my on-sale book offerings (worthy reads or re-reads this summer). I also encourage you to explore and enjoy the many other options available from my fellow scribes. Challenge yourself to read at least two books this summer by authors who are new to you and whose work may not only entertain you, but also expand you in some way. 


May what I share in this space be the start (or continuation) of your efforts to practice self-care and protect your spirit. You’ll need to do more and more of that during these uncertain times, and you should do so with gratitude and without guilt. 

Read On, Watch & Listen and Be Encouraged

Just Be….That’s Gift Enough for Today.

There’s someone in this world waiting for what only you can offer when he or she needs it most: 

that well-timed call or text;

 that book, poem or song;

that humor or virtual hug;

that truth-in-love swift kick;

those words of wisdom or kindness. 

The list could go on, but you get the picture.  Your life matters. You matter.

Even during a pandemic. Especially now.

 So press forward, embracing this slower place.

Listen to your heart and declutter your life. 

Love yourself and value yourself. Treasure those who love and value you, no strings attached.

Extend grace to others and appreciate when it flows your way, too. Just be, and let that be gift enough for today. 

Easter Reminder – Sunrise follows the Darkest Days

As you stay home and social distance on this Easter Sunday, continue to find creative ways to reach out and connect with your loved ones, express gratitude to those on the frontlines of the global Coronavirus crisis, and practice self-care.

Storm clouds may surround us and darkness may persist; but because the Easter story of Jesus’ death on the cross on a Friday and miraculous rising three days later, even in our weariness we can find hope in the fact that He rose, He is risen, and that ultimately, victory belongs to God. Even when don’t understand, we can trust that He weeps with us, He stands with us and He will see us through.

Remember that faith is a belief in that which you cannot yet see.
Summon your faith and speak life over your life. Trust God to see you through, even if that simply means surrendering to the present and accepting your circumstances a day at a time. Cling to God’s promises in Psalm 23 and Psalm 91 and believe that just as Good Friday proved, better days are coming. 💜

Be Encouraged & Endure

Over the past two weeks several friends that I hold dear have lost loved ones to the coronavirus. My heart goes out to Helena, Robert, Pam, Gwen and Teresa. And also to other friends whose relatives are fighting to recover or to live.


While I pray for them and the millions who are suffering in some way due to this virus, I also pray for those of us whose impact has thus far been limited to having to shelter in place and sacrifice our norm. For let’s be real: This right here isn’t normal.

There’s the surrealness of it all. In may ways, it feels like we’re living out a sci-fi movie.

There’s the surrender required during it all. This is when the best place to be is at the center of the storm, wrapped in the Almighty’s embrace, due to what we can’t control.

And certainly, there’s the shifting of it all. Those of us who survive will come out of this indefinite period of disruption changed, no matter what.


If we’re intentional, perhaps this era will leave us wiser, more gracious, more authentically ourselves and more focused, connected and settled – ready to live our purpose or lean into discovering the next phase of our life’s unique calling. And many will be like my friends – forever touched by the losses this difficult season has wrought, fighting to forge ahead.


Wherever you land on this spectrum, be gentle with yourself, yet determined not to let this time of shutdown be a blur.


This doesn’t mean you must write that book, build a new business or “boss up” in some other way, although if you’re up to it, you can. What this season does offer is a chance to do the deep work to polish the gem your life already is.


Be courageous and love more deeply – yourself first, so you can truly love your neighbor.Look within and be real about the state of your soul. If you’re good, remain steady and firm and pour out from that full well. If you’re shaky, use this time to brutally self-examine, forgive yourself and others, and do whatever else it takes to transform into a person you’re proud of and gracious toward. We all have room to grow.


Challenge yourself to avoid self-numbing to the point of missing the lessons you’re meant to learn or the blessing you’re meant to be to others.
Be okay with everything not being okay. And even so, still find a way to live, love and laugh your way through as much of this as you can.


That’s what the doctor’s and nurses on the front lines are doing with the dances and songs they’re flooding social media with, between their calls to loved ones of dying patients.That’s what so-called “ordinary” people around this nation and globe are doing as they find time to help a neighbor or stranger, or celebrate someone’s birthday while social distancing or make an extra phone call to say hello, or share a meal or buy someone’s groceries. That’s what every essential worker is doing every time he or she leaves home to do a job that could be putting him or her at risk; and every teleworker who is pouring into others online, via email and on calls, keeping systems in place and processes moving forward.


I heard on the news (which I watch sparingly) today that social distancing and sheltering in place is slowly but surely making an impact. Certainly, we’re not out of harm’s way. There are more waves of valley moments seemingly ahead. But what this proves is that the one thing we CAN control during this time is our choices.


Choose to continue being a ripple in the proverbial ocean. Your sacrifices and prayers, virtual hugs and words of encouragement, dollars and donations, and other acts of kindness, are making a difference.
For those who are grieving, we grieve with you.For those who have something to celebrate (birthdays, anniversaries, new babies, end of cancer treatments) we celebrate with you.For those who are struggling, we see you and are helping however we can. If you feel unseen or unheard, don’t go it alone. Reach out to a friend or relative or even a stranger; for right now, we’re all family.


For those who took time to read all of this, please receive my virtual hug and smile. Know that I am praying for you, and for our world.


Also hug yourself and think about things that make you smile. Cry if you must; curse if that helps. Then, rise up and resolve to push through. Let your faith edge out the fear, and conquer the battle for your mind and your sense of hope.


Embrace this sober wisdom that my late mother shared with me in our last conversation in 2005: “Sometimes you have to lose to gain.”
We don’t know when, we don’t know how, but If we’ll endure through this night, morning will come, beauty will replace ashes, and hope and healthiness will reign through the land once again.

~ Stacy Hawkins Adams©

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