“Sticking with uncertainty is how we be taught to chill out within the midst of chaos, how we be taught to be cool when the bottom beneath us all of the sudden disappears.” ~Pema Chödrön
Evicted. The phrase stared up at me from the letter in my fingers.
It was the summer season of 2022, close to the tail finish of the Covid pandemic, when life was alleged to be settling again into regular—or so my husband and I had hoped.
I learn the letter once more. My chest tightened.
We’d at all times paid our lease on time. We’d by no means damaged the phrases of our lease.
Our landlord was promoting the property. After almost ten years, we’d need to pack up all of our belongings and discover a new place to dwell.
We had sixty days. It felt like a intestine punch.
Uncertainty ripped by means of me. How had the housing market modified within the final ten years? May we discover a place and transfer inside sixty days? May we keep in the identical space? How would shifting have an effect on our lives?
It felt like another person had all of the sudden slashed the roots of our stability.
With the pandemic nearing an finish, my husband and I had not too long ago began new jobs after almost two years of unemployment. However rental charges throughout Southern California had been climbing quick. I fearful about our already shaky funds. How a lot would our lease enhance?
My husband and I loved dwelling within the Los Angeles and Orange County space. We beloved going to the museums, eating at our favourite eating places, or spending a day at Disneyland. Even by means of the pandemic, we’d take our canine on walks by means of the native parks or on a run alongside the seaside.
How a lot change might we anticipate? New locations to buy. New neighbors. New commute.
My anxiousness elevated, and I dreaded the daunting activity of trying by means of condo and home listings. If I might’ve measured my stress stage, it will’ve been off the dimensions.
We quickly realized there was no method we might afford to remain in the identical space. And we’d need to downsize to a a lot smaller place.
Even then, it meant an almost thirty % enhance in lease.
Plus, having a sixty-five-pound German Shepherd made shifting all of the harder, as fewer locations allowed giant canine, and plenty of locations merely restricted the breed. And there was no method we’d go wherever with out her.
The fixed fear left me feeling careworn and jittery.
Behind my thoughts, a relentless ticking clock counted down the times. Every second echoed louder and louder. With lower than thirty days to go, we nonetheless hadn’t discovered a brand new place to dwell.
We each felt the pressure of getting to uproot our lives.
Rigidity ebbed and flowed between my husband and me as we continued to wash out closets and pack bins. Although we agreed on recycling electronics, like our outdated TV, deciding what to do with outdated garments and books left us at odds. Donate or pack? The disagreements led to frequent quarreling and bickering.
As the times continued to tick by, one unsettling query remained: The place would we find yourself?
Though I wasn’t alone, I nonetheless felt adrift and disconnected.
Trying to find a method to deal with all of the sudden adjustments in my life, I attempted listening to calming music, training meditation, and taking extra walks with my canine. However I couldn’t quiet my spiraling worries.
I wanted one thing extra steadfast and turned to the traditional knowledge of the weather—earth, water, fireplace, air, and spirit.
My first elemental touchpoint was earth. With a lot uncertainty swirling round us, I wanted one thing regular to carry on to.
Earth reminds us of our roots—the elements of our life that stay stable even when all the things else shifts. I started specializing in what was nonetheless secure: the assist my husband and I gave one another, the routines we stored, and the straightforward grounding consolation of stepping outdoors and feeling the world beneath my toes.
As I steadied myself with what was nonetheless stable, one other factor started to move by means of me—water. Whereas earth helped me really feel grounded, water taught me that feelings want room to maneuver.
It was okay to really feel unhappy about what we had been shedding. I shared my emotions with my husband, and we talked about how we every felt about this sudden change. I acknowledged my emotions and gave myself time and compassion to expertise them.
Feeling extra balanced by earth and guaranteed by water, I turned to the subsequent factor—fireplace. Inside its regular glow, fireplace jogged my memory of the power that also burned inside me.
My power had been drained by concern and uncertainty. Wanting inward at my very own spark of fireside, I found a quiet interior power and braveness that urged me ahead. I targeted on small actions—looking listings, making calls, and packing another field. Every step grew to become a reminder that even in unsure instances, the sacred flame of resilience nonetheless burned shiny.
With extra confidence, one other factor offered itself—air. Because the fog of concern and fear started to clear, air provided house for readability and inspiration.
As an alternative of getting caught up within the “what ifs,” I took time to pause, breathe, and take a look at our state of affairs with a calmer thoughts. By letting go of the burden of fretting over each determination, I made method for clearer considering. It allowed me to concentrate on what actually mattered and belief that step-by-step, we’d discover our method ahead.
By the primary 4 components, I’d regained my sense of stability, self-compassion, interior power, and psychological readability.
The fifth factor, spirit, provided me a quiet sense of connection and alignment. Spirit jogged my memory that I used to be a part of one thing bigger than the quick battle I confronted. Even in uncertainty, I started to belief that this modification, nevertheless unwelcome, was not with out goal. I couldn’t management each final result, however I might lean into my strengths, into resilience, and into the quiet perception that we might land the place we had been meant to be.
Wanting again, I discovered far more than a brand new place to dwell. I discovered a brand new solution to regular myself when life feels unsure.
The weather grew to become quiet guides throughout a time when all the things else felt unstable.
Earth jogged my memory to return to what’s stable and supportive in my life. Water helped me to move with and thru my feelings as a substitute of preventing them. Fireplace rekindled the braveness to maintain taking the subsequent step. Air introduced the readability I wanted to make choices with a calmer thoughts. And Spirit helped me belief that even troublesome adjustments can carry which means and that responding to vary is how we develop.
Life will at all times deliver moments that shake your sense of stability—loss, sudden change, or seasons of uncertainty. In these moments, chances are you’ll really feel uprooted or uncertain the place to show. But the identical components that exist in nature additionally exist inside you. If you reconnect with them, you may rediscover steadiness, flexibility, resilience, lucidity, and a deeper sense of belief in your life’s path.
About Dava Harvey
Dava Harvey is a Nationwide Board–Licensed Well being and Wellness Coach. She is enthusiastic about serving to others reconnect with their wholeness and rise into their infinite chance. By a aware, whole-health method, she blends empowerment, alignment, and soulful therapeutic – creating house for actual steadiness, deeper consciousness, and significant change. Study extra at infinityhwc.com.
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