Recently, I was on the phone with my sister. She was feeling down because the pandemic is preventing her from seeing her new grandbaby who lives with his parents in Boulder. My heart aches for my sister during this holiday season. She’ll have to figure out a whole new way to celebrate the holidays on her own this year, as will my nephew and his growing family. The truth is, most of us are facing the same challenge.

Like many of us, this is typically the time of year when I get to reconnect with far-flung relatives during large, loud family gatherings. Since that’s impossible right now, I’ve been reconnecting with some of my favorite family stories and memories.

Here’s one that keeps resurfacing. When my nephew, Dwight, was about four-years-old, he and his pal Justin were in my sister’s backyard. The boys were dressed as Ninja Turtles, lunging at each other with pretend swords.

Not long ago, I got a voice message from one of my Live Bright Now clients, a female CEO named Joanne. “I need to put on my big girl pants,” she said. “Can we talk?” Turns out Joanne had an upcoming video conference with one of her male counterparts in Europe about running their global business team. Based on previous interactions with her colleague, Joanne knew he was stubborn and had a sizable ego. For his part, he felt like she had unrealistic expectations for the team. For Joanne, “big girl pants” was code for holding her ground and staying firm when asking for what her team needed.

For the past few weeks, one phrase keeps popping up in my brain: Life is a contact sport. I’ve been feeling a lot of “contact” from all directions lately. Since “normal” daily life now is pretty darn intense—and the political unrest is only heightening the intensity—I think we’re all feeling more sensitive and vulnerable than usual. I’m probably not the only one regularly nursing a few bumps and bruises. Question is, can we learn something from the injuries we’re sustaining?

The past couple of weeks have been pretty overwhelming for a lot of us. When the pandemic is about the fourth item on the news, coming after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, outrage at racial injustice, and the terrifying fires and smoke here in the West, you know things are getting crazy. As the world seems to darken by the day, it can feel hard or even impossible to find much brightness.

A few weeks ago, I had to schedule a medical procedure. My diagnosis wasn’t serious, and my doctor assured me I’d bounce back fast. Going into the operation, I was pretty nonchalant. Once back home, however, I quickly ditched my blasé attitude. If the meds were working, I was comfortable but loopy. When they wore off, I was lucid but in pain. Either way, I was totally off my game.