How are you?

Seriously, how are you doing right now? How are you balancing your life in the world?

It feels strange in so many ways to continue to “just” post on social media about personal, professional & energy balance while the world continues to face a pandemic, wars and climate crises. Yet this is how and where we can make an impact: in our personal choices of how to process and respond.

Over the past two years, so many of us have undergone greater stresses, met greater fear and uncertainty, and faced more general anger and anxiety in the world than any other time in our memories. And, online, we are connected to all of it. All the time. We don’t want to remain ignorant of what is going on around us, but it becomes increasingly difficult to acknowledge events, emotions and actions without engaging – and draining – our energy.

How to we take right action in a world that feels so extreme?

That is one of the most personal questions I can think of at the moment. For each person – in their own unique situation with individual capacities for engagement and action – there can be so many competing considerations. But, for any of us, first and foremost, we have to understand what is best for us. We need to know what will keep us mentally, energetically, emotionally safe in this moment. If we are not in a space we can manage, there will be harm.

Different people have different limits in any given moment. Some will have the ability to extend into higher stress situations to directly and safely help those in need. Others may safely be able to donate time or money behind the scenes. Still others may be their best by focusing on their well-being and the well-being of those closest to them.

And those abilities and capacities may shift in the next moment. New priorities, new considerations, new events, new actions all change the landscape of our personal balance.

It is important for us to consciously do the best we can with what we have and where we are in our lives. That is all anyone can ask of us.

So, how are you? What choices are you making about where to hold your attention and invest your energy?