Is it just me, or is 2025 starting to feel a lot like 2020 – that main COVID-19 year? I don’t tune into current affairs, I get the headlines and comments on the periphery, and that’s enough to sense the frenetic energy. I kinda missed the VAT on, VAT off stupidity. Who needs comedians when we have this bunch? Anyway, we’ve just made it through the first quarter, and it feels like a full year is done. Everything is changing.

 

Everyone in my close circle is experiencing immense change. Those big life events – death, retirement, retrenchment, career change, illness – they’re showing up everywhere. If you’ve ever been in the marketing industry, you’ll understand this reference. COVID-19 came as a “teaser” to the main event of this century. All the change and transformation that is palpable right now is the second coming.  This is the awakening that we’re called to.

 

Managing change

 

When the onslaught of the virus exploded throughout the world in 2020 and everything shutdown, it gave us the perfect storm to stop, think, and reassess. But what did we do? Instead of appreciating the pause moment, we poured our energy into the collective hysteria that this living generation has never seen. My medical bills were insane. My head felt as though it would explode on most days.  

 

And while I hope that we never ever experience another global health crisis in this lifetime, there’s absolutely no guarantee. The only thing I am sure of is that I won’t have the same reaction. I hope you won’t either.

 

Watch where your energy goes

 

With the availability of information from everyone, from every corner around the globe, we must be selective about where we give our attention and energy. It’s so easy to be mesmerised by the feeds. Each time you watch or read anything, you share energy with that person, entity, whatever is vying for your attention.

 

A 2024 study from a medical university in Lahore found that peer influence plays a major role in academic success – accounting for up to 39% of performance differences among students. That’s statistically significant! Many other similar studies have shown this over the years.

 

When we apply this to our lives, the people we spend time with – whether at work, at home, or in our broader circles – and the things we consume all influence our state of mind, our actions, and how we see the world. If we adopt a purely secular view of humanity and simply “keep doing what we’ve always done,” we contribute to the growing isolation and division that burden us with misery, anger, and the low vibrations that keep us stuck.

 

Don’t give away your power. Pay attention to where your energy goes. Be mindful of the conversations you’re having. Your thoughts are even more potent – that’s where the real dis-ease lives.

 

What do we do?

 

I love the fact that there’s the growing energy of mindfulness and awakening. As more and more people come out of their unconscious states, we are on our way to experience the “new earth” as visionary Eckhart Tolle has spoken of for decades. But here’s the thing. You can’t assimilate any evolution by scrolling through the feeds, or catching the shorts, or even the long videos and podcasts. That’s all a great start, but you need to go deeper.

 

Dear heart, you can read the books, listen to the podcasts, speak the ‘mindful’ lingo – and still stay stuck. Why? You need to live it, every minute of every day. How? Get an accountability partner.