As I write this, we’re 9 months into the pandemic and I can share at this point that I’ve had all sorts of stress-related dreams (some into full-blown nightmares). People are stressed, cases are higher in my state than they were back in the early parts of the pandemic, and there’s a lot of fear and anger.

People are tired of dealing with the virus and some are lashing out.

Yesterday I read an article on a health worker in Missouri receiving death threats for asking people to wear masks and cooperate with contact tracers. She’s received so much abuse that she fears for the safety of her family and has decided to quit her job.

People are angry, scared, and pandemic fatigue has set in.

On top of all this, people are suffering with depression and all the problems one has in life. Hurt and suffering haven’t stopped because of the pandemic. Instead, such problems have only gotten worse.

Therapists are overloaded and either not taking new patients or wait times are stretching out for weeks.

The pain and suffering that people are going through is overwhelming.

The dreams that I’ve been having are filled with fear and of loss of control. None of us know when the pandemic will end and our world has been turned upside-down.

My dream is that you are in the future and that you will read this and know that life is better. Where I am now, we’ve just crossed 250,000 deaths from coronavirus in America. To date this year, there have been more than 500,000 deaths due to heart disease. COVID-19 is the number 3 cause of death in the United States this year—and we’re not even at a full year of dealing with the coronavirus yet.

I am hurting, as are millions of Americans. Our lives have changed in ways that we could not have imagined. When you are hurting, what can you do to help yourself? Do you try to suppress or repress the hurt? Or do you embrace it?

I’ve had such fear and stress on my mind, and you can’t simply shake off the stress of the pandemic.

Again, I pray that you read this after the pandemic and that you have survived. The hurt that people carry over having grown up in an alcoholic or dysfunctional family, compounded with the stress of the pandemic, has created problems for tens of millions of people.

I cannot take that pain away, but we can acknowledge it.

We can choose to be more open-minded and accepting of others during this difficult time.

And when we are through this time. I hope we all remember what we learned during the pandemic and carry it with us all our days.

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.