The Wellness Poet
By Krissy Regan The Wellness Poet
It’s been a whirlwind year hasn’t it. From one end of the country to the other I’ve seen people suffering, and others having enormous success, and some just surviving. It’s no secret that North Queensland is prospering as a result of the pandemic and this is both exciting and excruciating. Exciting because life has continued as normal and local businesses are benefiting, and excruciating as the availability of homes for low-income families is critical. In 2019 Townsville made international headlines for the devastating floods. But in 2021 we are once again the lucky city hosting international events, and no-one could have predicted this flip from broken to booming.
I spend a lot of time working abroad (virtually) from the safety of my home-office in Townsville. I have family living abroad and I have friends dotted all over the planet as well as projects that I manage. I enjoy having this broader outlook from the comfort of my home. However, it also makes me appreciate the suffering and sacrifices of others during the past 2-years. My friends in Africa have described to me in graphic detail of the mothers who have had to abandon their babies on the doorsteps of charities because they have no money to buy food. My friends in Brazil have shown me how half a million people can die in a very short space of time. My international news feed shows me the crisis in Indonesia where entire villages of children now live alone having lost their parents to Covid-19 and no-one wants to go there to help take care of them. I watch news from India, China, Ukraine, London and Brussels hearing both first-hand and second-hand what is happening to people and I’m shocked, saddened and appalled.
Earlier this year my husband travelled to the UK to lay his father to rest. He has been limping around for the past few months with DVT, as well as the trauma of international travel in uncertain times, followed by 2 weeks in quarantine while grieving. He made it home safely, somehow managing to not get the Delta variant. The mental, emotional, physical and financial cost of this 5 weeks will not go away anytime soon. Obviously solo-parenting whilst working and dealing with the reality that he may not be able to come back when he thought he would, was not easy for me either. It really doesn’t feel fair that we should have to deal with this on top of losing the one remaining parent that he hadn’t seen for 2.5-years.
Our story is no different from many others, and so many have had it so much worse. When I think about all of this, I get so low for people as I visualise their suffering. It’s very easy to get compassion fatigue. It’s also very easy to ignore what is going on in the rest of the world. It’s easy to think that this does not apply to me… Until it does! In February 2020, I commented that by the time the Pandemic was over (officially) we would be hard pressed to not know someone who has been affected in the most tragic way, and that the true cost of this would not be understood for a very long time. Even after vaccination you can still end up in hospital due the severity of this illness. You may lose your business, your home, your loved ones, your sanity… There is so much to lose.
I’m not trying to be doom-monger as there are many examples of pivoting and prospering but sadly there is no panacea (a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases). Debates and discord in our society is only causing people to be more worried and feel isolated. Paralysed by fear about making any kind of a decision. To help me make decisions in these times of uncertainty I consider what is best for me, what is best for my family, and what would be best for others if this did apply to me (if I wasn’t living in the lucky city). I also look outside of my town to help inform my views and to take a balanced scorecard approach.
A balanced scorecard is looking at things from all angles. Internal, external, financial, learning, growth, development as well as considering all your stakeholders and how they impact your life. Our family are stakeholders in our decisions, especially our children.
I’m hopeful that 2022 will bring some innovation and further compassion as we all start to deal with the after-math of the past two years. I’m also very conscious of the fact that we will have other challenges to deal with in the future and if it’s not a natural disaster, a man-made revolution or a pandemic it might be something we’ve yet to even contemplate. But whatever lays ahead just remember that if you are booming now, it may be short-lived, and if you are busted now, it may be short-lived. So be considerate to yourself and others as you go about your day, you never know when YOU may be the one that needs some help. And if you are able to help someone, I hope that you do. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help.
Krissy Regan is The Wellness Poet and Founder of Mindful Mums Queensland. She is author of 3 new books;
- Broken to Unbreakable, 12 Steps to an Unbreakable Mind, Body & Spirit.
- The Koala who Lost his Heart.
- Bobby, a Horse who teaches a young girl how to Love.
Krissy wrote these books whilst working part-time at home, raising 2 small children and juggling the demands of her household. Krissy offer’s workshops, retreats and 1-1 coaching and launched her global online wellness school at the start of 2021. You can register right here; https://krissy-regans-wellness-movement-mindful-mums-3.teachable.com/
You can contact Krissy Regan at mindfulmumsqld@gmail.com or follow Mindful Mums Qld on Facebook and Instagram @mindfulmumsqld and view Krissy’s work here: https://www.thewellnesspoet.com/
