Adam Markel addresses viewers during concurrent global crises (the COVID-19 pandemic and incidents of social injustice), using an ocean/waves metaphor to describe relentless stress. He urges compassion and empathy for others while emphasizing the necessity of self-care, solitude, and maintaining resilience so people can stay engaged and be part of constructive change.
Chapters
Hey, everybody, it's Adam. Just checking in with you. I know things are tough right now, and I didn't think they could get tougher, and yet somehow they have. It feels like being in the ocean and the waves, the sets of waves just continue to pound the shore and pound the shore, and it's sort of relentless. So here we are, caught up in what is an absolute crisis in our world in terms of the pandemic. And just when you think there isn't enough challenge relative to that, we have, again, this ongoing challenge in regard to how we treat each other, to the civility and the lack of civility that sometimes shows up and to the out and out oppression and racism and every other unimaginable manner in which people treat each other, sometimes awfully. And I can just say right now that with everything going on, that one of the most important things that I can remind myself with as these waves just keep pounding the shore, this sort of relentless surf that keeps threatening to sort of wipe us out with each and every passing set, that we have to take care of ourselves. We have to make sure that we don't get wiped out by the constant stress and the constant exhaustion that comes from taking on so much. And so right now, I know there's a lot on people's minds and a lot in their hearts, a lot that I am dealing with personally. Just because I want to have an awareness of what's going on in the world and what's going on in the world is sometimes really devastating. And to be compassionate, to have empathy for what's happening in not just our own personal lives or the lives of the people that we are with on a daily basis, our family and our friends, but to extend our compassion to people globally and to people right, you know, in our own towns, in our own cities, in our own countries who are not being treated well, is just frustrating. It's. It hurts. It hurts on the inside. It hurts the heart and the soul. And so I completely get the way in which many of us are responding to this and want to just point out the fact that even in the midst of this pounding surf, this repetition of serious waves that keep crashing, seemingly crashing on us, we've got to take great care of ourselves. We've got to continue to manifest and maintain our resilience and our. If nothing more, our resilient spirit, to not become disheartened or to become despondent or to get so angry that we react and that we react in ways that potentially can wipe us out. The way one of Those waves might just wipe out somebody who's standing at the shore and not expecting that wave to break at the time that it breaks. So for me, this is about the subtle art of caring for yourself at the same time you care for others. We've got to be in it for the long run, because if we're just focused on what's immediately in front of us and what's dire and in need of attention in this moment, we potentially will cost ourselves a lot more in the long term. And so take care of yourself. Be cognizant. Be mindful of the fact that with everything else that might be exhausting you and might be depleting you and depleting your spirit, even, that you take time to replenish, time to take care of yourself, time to sit in solitude and in moments of peace and of quiet in the midst of what is quite a chaotic time in our world. And so as you're putting your heart and your soul and your energy into looking after other people, I'm reminding you, I'm a voice to remind you now to also look out for yourself and take care of yourself so that you can be in this for the long run, so that you can do the work that you're here to do and that you're called to do, and you can be a part of the solution and not contributing in some way, even unconsciously, to the kind of exhaustion that is also problematic in our world right now. So with that, I will just say thank you so much for what you're doing and for the space that you are holding for so many people out there who may be less fortunate than you and maybe even for yourself and the things, the challenges that you face. My heart is with you. Our team is thinking and keeping in our thoughts, first and foremost, the well being of everybody and not knowing more what to do than simply to share what we believe is the most relevant message at this time, which is, as a society, for us to all be resilient as we move toward change, that's what's upon us right now, the waves of change. Okay?
