I wrote the following post 5 years ago on LinkedIn. So much of what I said before I suffered a severe adverse reaction after my second COVID vaccine is even clearer for me now.
LinkedIn Post from 5 Years Ago:
Reflections from a required pause...
As we are forced to slow down from the myriad of activities we all fill our days with, I hope we can reprogram our own lives, our businesses and our communities to what is really important.
Crisis brings clarity.
If I think of the times in my life when a crisis forced me to focus, when I eventually slowed down enough, it became clear where I needed to put my energy to make it through the crisis.
In this crisis, I choose my family, kindness and doing what I can to support small businesses. Today, as you pause amid the chaos of the crisis I challenge you to choose your own focus wisely too.
Wishing you the ability to find your clarity and lead through the crisis with kindness, empathy and courage.
I wrote about this same concept of crisis creating clarity again on LinkedIn 2 years ago.
LinkedIn Post from 2 Years Ago:
Crisis brings clarity. Last week I received notice that my 15 year career with U.S. Bank has come to an end.
I was part of the most recent round of layoffs. I am currently on long term disability [from my employer] as I have been dealing with a severe reaction to the vax for the past 15 months. [Update:: Disability was cut off in January 2024]. My health crisis has brought me so much clarity that losing my job doesn't feel like a crisis however, it is jarring.
Despite many setbacks, many unknowns and a need for chemotherapy infusions, I still hang onto hope that my health can and will improve in time. I will get back to doing triathlons again like the picture on the right from August 2019. I will be healthier than this picture of me on the left in the hospital due to cardiac issues and severe pain in March 2022.
I want to share some of my clarity with you as we have all experienced some level of trauma in the last two years, whether you lost your job, lost a loved one, lost friends or family due to differences in opinion, or lost your sense of what you believed to be true.
You have a choice in how you respond to what happens to you. Choose love over fear. Choose humans over profits. To honor that, I have chosen advocacy for those also injured with my Team Humanity community.
What you focus on grows. I am focusing on growing what I call #TeamHumanity in the purple overlap between red and blue politics. We are way too divided. We need to pull together and support each despite our differences. We are all human and we are all trying our best. We don't have to agree 100%, but we need to see each other as humans.
Prioritize your health. Move away from people and jobs that damage your health and wellbeing. Trying to heal from damage to your health takes years. I can attest to that as I am still trying to heal. It's not worth any amount of money, time or energy.
Don't lose hope. I have learned to have a relationship with pain that still allows for hope. To suffer is human. We all have that in common. Don't lose hope in your suffering. We have lost a number of injured to suicide as the experience is scary, painful, hard and socially isolating. I believe many who have lost their jobs may feel the same way. Be a beacon of hope for others.
Make kindness contagious. Make kindness a virus. It's free. Kindly share my post to help spread connections with the injured and hope for those who recently lost their jobs. Thank you! #TeamHumanity
In 11 days it will be 4 years since my severe adverse reaction. I have three more thoughts of clarity to add after a few more years post reaction.
Don’t take your body for granted. Your body communicates with you all the time. We are taught to, and get very good at, not listening to it. Eventually, that will catch up with you in the form of pain and health conditions. If you tune in and listen deeply it will guide you to your most right path for the well-being of your body, mind and soul.
Less is more. I used to fill my days with so many activities. I focused on wanting to be productive. There is beauty in slowing down. I also filled my house with many things I don’t even remember all that I bought. Passing those things onto others brings me joy, peace and a living space that is less cluttered, easing the cluttered space of my mind.
Let things flow. I used to believe I could control most things through trying very hard to get it all right. Trying hard is what kept my body stuck in Chronic Fatigue. It was an identity I used to survive until it backfired on me. Once I learned to let go and let things flow, my health started improving and a peace settled over me that I wish for everyone.
My life is not the same. My body is not the same. My heart and soul still stand even more firmly in the place of how much more alike we are than different. Please take a few minutes to find your clarity even outside of a crisis.
Think back to a time when you were in a crisis and try to remember what was most important to you. Bring those thoughts back into your day to day. When you do, you just might notice a change in your life, body, heart and soul that brings you a peace you never thought possible.
Very inspiring Suzanna. I often think of you when I’m feeling challenged. You have provided a positive beacon of hope for many people.
Beautifully written. Indeed we need to smell the roses, smile at strangers and hug those we love.