Dear Savvy Sisters of WMS,

My heart breaks for every human life lost from COVID-19.  At the moment, March 28, 2020 at 2:05p.m., there have been 1,842 deaths across America and 28,794 deaths globally.

What is happening right now seems surreal.  In my own neighborhood, I have observed something important and worth mentioning. As people follow social distancing and work at home, it seems that most everyone that I see - displays a little extra friendliness.   But that hasn’t been the case every day… so that led me to contemplate, why?  What makes one day different than another?  Here is the truth.

I’ve been walking in a new neighborhood lately - one that I have recently moved to.  And it’s really a crazy, complicated, “zoo” of streets.  In fact, the first day I walked in my new neighborhood I actually got lost and had to pull up Google maps to find my way home.  So, I can’t say that I truly know the “pre-COVID” friendliness of my new neighborhood, or the “pre-COVID” amount of activity the neighborhood has had in the past.  But I can say that currently, it’s an unusually friendly and active neighborhood. 

Everyone is truly social distancing from one another, but there are still a lot of people outside walking, riding their bicycles, watering their plants, playing in the streets with their kids, and so forth.  More than I have ever seen in any neighborhood.  Everyone waves, smiles and says “hello” as we pass each other – usually by walking on different sides of the street.  Even kids wave to me as I walk by.

I’m curious if you’ve noticed this as well. But with that said I want to reflect what happened on ONE particular day.  On THIS day it seemed like everywhere I looked, and everything I felt, was not a neighborhood of happy, friendly people.  Instead, on this exact same walking route, what I experienced was people full of fear and anger and Unfriendliness.

On THAT particular day, I actually woke up feeling poorly. I was upset at the fact that still, after a month of waiting patiently for appropriate Personal Protective Equipment, including basic surgical masks, for which I had been promised by more than a half dozen different companies, had still not arrived.

I was worried for myself, and my amazing team of healthcare providers, Rhonda, Hiram, Leah, and Dr. O. How was I going to protect myself and team if I couldn’t get my hands on the most basic of Personal Protective Equipment – simple surgical masks?   On this particular day, this was extraordinarily heavy on my mind.  I was frustrated and disappointed after weeks of countless hours trying to find appropriate Protective Equipment.  

I had been burning the candle at both ends so I was pretty tired to start.   I had also been worrying about my mother, and how I hadn’t seen her in a few days, concerned about my sister who has been helping my mom out for a few weeks, concerned about the women in my Savvy Sister Circle in getting them off to a good start with our group GI Cleanse, getting overwhelmed from the necessity of staying abreast of the rapid day to day changes COVID-19 was… and then I think, the icing on the cake happened.   

I got in a debate with my brother, whom I love dearly, over my disappointment at every possible government level, leaving so many of us on the front lines of COVID-19 without proper protection.  What has been happening on the real front is quite a bit different than what is being detailed on the daily reports… and it’s not that pretty of a picture.

Though I recognize NO ONE had a crystal ball to know what was about to take hold of our world, and I certainly appreciate the efforts of our country’s leaders, I had NO intention to allow THAT debate with my brother… to turn political.  So, let’s just say there’s nowhere to go except the dumpster when politics enters the conversation.   It was a really bad day all around.  

Now here’s the most interesting part of this story:  THAT day was the day that everyone around me was ugly and mad… and instead of waving as we passed each other… they were angry and unfriendly.  No one said hello or waved with a smile on their face.  And THAT was the day that I watched passing cars honking impatiently at each other, yelling and cussing at each other from their windows.  And yes, THAT was the day I got lost in the neighborhood.  And by the time I pulled up Google Maps to see where I was… a whole hour had passed… and I was shocked to find out that I had somehow ended up still 45 minutes away from home.  I babied a toe blister that night!  And took a double dose of NeuroCalm that night.

But the next day was a new day, and I felt better.  I was more myself… and was able to put the lack of basic masks and other urgently needed Personal Protection Equipment behind me.   I started the day off connecting with my personal trainer by phone, and he made me feel good about myself… and special.  He said he believed in me… and that little piece of kindness and support gave me hope and motivation to stay positive.  THAT day… with hope and belief… was nothing like the day before.  It was a far more typical day – one of people happily saying “hello” as they waved to me across the street, and happy little kids waving, and simply just smile after smile.

Yes, I’m still waiting for Personal Protection Equipment.  But that’s not the point of this writing.

The point is that MY aura … what surrounds me… what is coming out of my heart and pores and soul… positive or negative… is what I get back in return.

As annoying as it can be sometimes to try to stay positive when you know you are right… or to listen to someone who shows and displays excessive positivity when things are difficult… I think it is self-defeating if we allow ourselves to become affected from the chaos that is happening around us.  Not only is there nothing to gain… there is so much to lose.

Stepping back and taking time out may be exactly what we need to do when we notice a lot of negative things happening around us.  Because we may also recognize that one or more negative emotions… like fear, anger, disgust, disappointment…  are also manifesting from something inside ourselves. 

I hear you.  I promise, I really do.  I know what you are feeling right now.  You may or may not have had an easy start into 2020.  For me, the jump-start into 2020 was NOT easy.  But I was quite hopeful and remained positive that things would get easier.  Well… with the surprise attack we all have been affected by, things have not lightened up… and in fact they have become more challenging. 

Most of us have had an economic downturn.  And many of us have additional NEW expenses beyond anything we had planned.  No matter who you are, we are hurting everywhere.  We little guys.  Our community as a whole.  Our businesses, both large and small.  Our States.  And our collective United States of America.  We all have been affected.  No one has been spared.  And most importantly… many lives have been lost.

More than ever before, it’s time that we vow to be at our best and in our most positive states, even more determined to remain hopeful.  That may seem next to impossible sometimes.  But… at the very foundation of who we are as women, it is actually the only answer.

We, as women, truly do control the aura of our environments.

And when WE don’t feel well… our UNIVERSE is not well.  If We feel anger… the Universe feels anger.  If We feel depressed… the Universe feels depressed.

Our challenge is not that we can’t remain positive and hopeful.  We can do that if we have the support we need!  Our true challenge is in getting the support and help we need to stay strong and be leaders for our families.

It’s not easy to be the leader… to be the visionary… to be the one who watches from a bird’s eye view and think Proactively, instead of Reactively.  Through this is what we as women do every day.  A woman’s intuition, our sixth sense so to speak, allows us to see from that 40,000-foot view.  And it can be lonely and scary up there.   We need the support of each other to help us through.

You see, because of our innate makeup, we often see and feel “things” before our partner can even recognize its importance.  A woman’s ability to look ahead and put all the pieces together, recognizing urgency and the need to “plan forward” most often supersedes her partners ability.  And thus, we often carry a load alone… eventually “breaking” when the burden becomes too great.  

So, ladies, we must help each other. 

We can be here for one another because we understand one another.  We all know the responsibilities we share.  I am vowing to you now to overcome anything that may try to get in my way to help YOU recognize your true value as a woman.  We are mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, friends and relatives to hundreds of other human beings.  They need us.  They depend on us.  And they are counting on us. 

We are truly the hub in the center of the wheel that keeps everything and everyone together.  So, let’s bond together and help one another.  Please feel free to hit return to this email right now and tell me how you feel or if you need any support.  I promise to read every email and see how I, or someone on my staff, can be of service to you.

Much Love,
Dr. Karen

p.s.  Stay tuned.  I have so much to share with you.  I am going to be honest and transparent about what is happening in my medical practice – caring for the most vulnerable.   I will also share what I’m personally doing to keep myself well and my immune system as strong as I can.  You can connect with me also on Facebook here: 

@AskDrLeggett