Feeling Lost or in Limbo? That’s OK!

Recently I was leading a retreat for a group of women. While waiting to enter the workshop space one of them asked me, “So how are you doing?” I breathed. Paused. Closed my eyes. And said, “Wobbly.”  Everyone around me nodded their heads in agreement. 

While many things are true at once (read more), more of us than I can count are feeling as if we’re in limbo. We’re noticing a “start … stop” quality to everything.

Many of our lives, careers and relationship were radically affected by COVID, but all of our psyches were dramatically impacted. Undeniably, most of us are questioning everything. 

How do you respond to being in limbo? 

While a few of us are re-imagining our lives, creating new businesses and launching creative projects as a result of this global crisis, most of us are still licking our wounds or are in survival mode. And almost all of us are grieving from profound loss.

We’re feeling uncertain, exhausted and on a good day–hopeful.  Many share they’re still struggling to find a “sense of normalcy,” and have no idea what the future holds. Most of us are taking life day by day and sometimes, hour by hour. The great disruptor changed us. Things will never be the same. And many of us don’t want them to be. 

As a former career coach who has worked with thousands of men/women through big life/career transitions over the last 20 years, I offer up some timeless reminders as we navigate this era: it’s OK to feel confused, lost and have a lack of clarity or a plan. It’s OK to feel as if your life is on pause. It’s OK to not feel wise or discerning.

That will come later. I promise.

For now, 1. focus on making your self-care a priority, 2. keep naming and focusing on what IS working in your life and 3. seek daily heartfelt connection and having conversations that matter. I believe that right now, these three things are enough. And they’ll help us as we continue to wade through the unknown. Together.

HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOU OR YOUR TEAM IN FINDING BALANCE? HERE ARE THREE OPPORTUNITIES:

• *New* Wild Souls Nature Adventures! Do you live in North Carolina or have friends/family in this gorgeous state?  I moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains last year and I am in the process of creating magical, Western North Carolina-based nature/mindfulness experiences designed to reconnect you to wilderness and yourself. Learn more + make sure and sign up for my Wild Souls mailing list here). 
• My 2021-2022 speaking calendar is almost full!  Schedule me to create a balanced living workshop, keynote or personal retreat to help your team, organization or employees feel less stressed and more resilient, creative and focused. For 20+ years I’ve been working with companies/organizations such as Women in Conservation, the Council on Family Violence, Merrill Lynch, the Center for Women in Law, the Hewlett Foundation and more.  Email me, I’d love to discuss how I can support your team or organization. Learn more here.

Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by life balance coach/author/speaker and self-care evangelist Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women find balance through the art/science of self-care, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, AARP, Spirituality & Health and more. She and her team have certified more than 400 facilitators in 10 countries around the globe to lead self-renewal groups for women based on her pioneering work. She’s the author of two books on life balance including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life.  She and her husband live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Austin, Texas and are enjoying a new empty nest. More on Renee here.