As COVID restrictions start to ease, it’s worth reflecting on why this time has been so frustrating so we can learn from the experience. Besides the obvious fears around health, the economy, and the unknown, the quarantine exacerbated our insatiable need to be productive.

When formerly quick errands suddenly took three times as long to accomplish, we had less time to do all the things we needed and wanted to do. Getting groceries or a tool at the hardware store required planning. Kids home from school and remote learning--enough said! Frustration can build quickly when we feel like our productivity is being blocked. 

We desperately want to feel like we are moving forward with our lives, accomplishing things, and progressing because we often tie our worth to our productivity.

I don’t purport to know the meaning of life or why we are here, but I do know for sure that…

Our worth does not equate to our productivity.

Don’t believe me? Let me introduce you to Rosel.

When I first met Rosel, she was an active woman, but not in the hustle get-a-million-things-done-in-a-day busy. She rode her bike 2 miles to work and back, even in the snow. She foraged for wild berries and mushrooms. She gardened, hiked, and went on long walks in the forest. She cooked amazing meals and was the central force for her immediate and extended family.

When she turned 45, however, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It started in her left foot and quickly moved into her legs and arms, ultimately paralyzing her from her neck down.

You may think you can imagine what this is like, but it’s impossible to comprehend. Rosel needs someone to hoist her dead weight out of bed, clean, dress and feed her. She can’t just pop up, pour a cup of coffee and get on with her day like we can. In other words, she cannot technically be “productive”—at least not in the way we typically desire.

However, Rosel is a true Viking—not in body, but in Spirit.

She was so beloved at work, she continued “working” as a preschool teacher for 10 years—while paralyzed! Despite having to pick up the slack, her colleagues welcomed her presence, her essence, her being.

The children held up books for her to read. She let them climb on her and push the buttons on her electric wheelchair. She watched over them at recess, negotiating their hurts and squabbles—just with her voice and energy.

Rosel is my Mother-in-Law.

I remember one time speaking to her from Seattle and feeling pained for what she was experiencing.

I apologized.

I’m sorry for bringing your son so far away from you when you need him so much.

She could have felt sorry for herself and laid on the guilt. Instead, she got angry with me.

Don’t you ever feel like that! I raised my children to go out into the world and live their lives, not to stay home to take care of me!

Later, when I became a mother myself, I realized that Rosel loved and honored her children as individuals made to follow their own paths, not as extensions of herself.

I remember one time when we brought her grandchildren across the world to visit. She was unable to hug or hold them, much less converse with them as they did not speak Swedish. They were small and intimidated by her gigantic wheelchair.

Yet, somehow she connected with them. She beguiled them with stories in a language they could not understand, just with her facial expressions and sing-song tone. She directed them in a game she made up using raisins—what little kid doesn’t love raisins?! Why hadn’t I thought of that?!? Too busy being productive probably.

Even when they played cards and board games amongst themselves, she “stayed in the room” and watched. She smiled at them with her lips, eyes, and energy. She embraced them, not with arms, but love alone.

How many of us are so busy trying to be productive that we forget to give our loved ones our presence—our undivided attention; love from our soul, our inner being?

Because that’s the real answer, right? We are human beings, not human doings.

If we equate our worthiness to how much we get done in a day-month-year-lifetime, we are essentially saying that Rosel is worthless. 

The Universe’s rules are the same for all of us. We are not more worthy than her because we can accomplish tasks/goals. My neighbor is not more worthy than I am because she has a high-power job, a magazine-worthy home, a buff body, or kids who go to Stanford.

Likewise, Rosel doesn’t get a worth=productivity pass just because her body doesn’t work. She could easily just lie/sit around feeling victimized by her disease, justifiably complain about her agonizing circumstance. Instead, she shows up to her life the best she can, which I would argue is better than many of us who are able-bodied and able to be “productive.”

So the next time you find yourself stressed over your productivity or lack thereof…do what I do, think of Rosel. Remember, you are valuable just because you exist.

It’s Your Energy. Elevate It!

When we feel good in our bodies, in our minds, and in our hearts—and when we know how to access those feelings at will—we have an opportunity to change the way we see ourselves.

Ascended Presence offers psychic readings, intuitive life coaching, active meditation and energy management courses that can help you take your life to the next level.