I know I’m not alone when it comes to the pain of changing schedules and cancelling plans. Living mostly in a place of peaceful observation, I’ve honored the opinions of others, been cautious, yet have not been in fear.

I’ve read the science, the conspiracy theories and the ridiculous posts too.  The truth in my heart guides my personal decisions.  It’s something I am very grateful for.  Knowing how to make a decision from a place of calm clarity has been a blessing.  I’m spending quite a bit of time these days helping others truly trust their own hearts for important decisions too.

Yes, I’m good at allowing my feelings to guide me, yet the rollercoaster of COVID19 has brought dozens of unpleasant waves of disappointment, sadness and resignation.  Can you relate?

The first punch to my gut was the shutdown, the loss of face to face connection combined with the cancellation of my beloved spring woman’s retreat and EFT training events.  There was immediate unanticipated financial loss for my business.  In spite of that, I quickly redirected my energy to helping others. I began donating my services to anyone who wanted to be part of my COVID19 Calm Clarity group on Zoom.  I offered my members free events and put their membership renewals on hold.  Hundreds took me up on these offers.  Providing honest helpful service lifted my energy.

A more recent wave of upset came as very important personal events fell away. We cancelled a dream vacation to France, my daughter’s August wedding and committed to stay home most of the time to do our part.  As an empty nester with the freedom to dine out and travel frequently for business , I certainly miss the adventure of being in new places with interesting people.  I don’t miss crowded airports, lines or delays.  Necessity has made me a pretty good cook these days.

The loss of family gatherings has been rough.  I respect that my parents want 100% isolation.  My grown children and extended family are being extra vigilant to restrict their exposure to the outside world.  Some live quite a distance away, so we wait until the uncertain future for our time together.

Last week I reached another very painful decision point.

We had rented a house in South Carolina as a consolation to fill the week of our daughter’s postponed wedding. I was so excited the day we booked this reservation. It was an oceanfront dream house with a pool that even allow us to bring the dog.  Our best friends and the new in-laws were joining us too.  When reports of South Carolina’s high infection rates came to my attention I took pause.  My daughter pleaded with me to cancel, even offering to send us a check for the cancellation charges.  In spite of her pleas, I waited.  My heart wasn’t feeling the decision yet.  That proved to be helpful.  Within the next week, our rental company updated their cancellation policies, so that we could cancel with a minimal 15% penalty. That same week my future son-in-law became ill and was tested for COVID19.

My heart told me the time for a decision had come. I took time to meditate and do my daily tapping self-care routine.  I wrote out several options on small pieces of paper, folded and shuffled the options.  With my eyes closed, I held each piece of paper to my heart – reading the energy for a YES or NO.  The energy was clear.  Two papers (more than one answer!) had received the YES feeling from my heart.  I unfolded them to reveal:

1. Cancel the trip
2. A new option is emerging.

When I called the rental company, I learned that we had a new option to reschedule our rental to another date in 2021 and not lose any money.  We could even keep the travel insurance in place.  Once I checked with our group, everyone was excited about postponing our beach vacation until late April. The following day we learned our son in law’s test was negative. Whew!

Was there more to that new option?  We really hoped to see our kids and take some vacation time.  Within the next few hours, I managed to book a few days in Hocking Hills where we could rent some beautiful cabins.  We now have something fun to look forward to.

Decisions are part of life.  You can settle down and get calm before your next important decision. August is International Tapping Month and a great time to use the power of Emotional Freedom Techniques to calm your nervous system so that you can know what a YES feels like.  Join my free weekly tapping group or upcoming trainings to learn more.  Details are at https://createandconnectbrilliantly.com/calendar/