Contributed by Elizabeth Szubert. Find her on the web, here.

Let’s get this out in the open. We are all dealing with guilt right now. It’s the guilt that we’re not putting the right effort in the right places. The guilt of being home but sitting and watching the 24/7 news that is our life right now (hi, that’s me). I have a family member who is an essential worker and she’s dealing with the guilt that she has to leave the house every day. The guilt that your child is missing their friends and there is nothing you can do about it. We all, possibly, are dealing with this right now. But, two things.

#1 – For all those who are essential workers who have to leave the home, THANK YOU.

#2 – You are human and your feeling are valid. All of them and you should try to be compassionate towards yourself.

It’s hard to do that. I’m not going to lie to you. Guilt is one of my hardest emotions to deal with, especially towards my writing. I feel guilty when I only write 100 words for the day instead of the complete chapter. Even though I am out of ways to deal with making myself work. I feel guilty when I take a day off on the weekend because that’s a day I could be working instead of relaxing. However, more and more I’ve been coming back to this very simple idea – I am only human.

I am only human with a finite time and mental space to deal with things during the day. I am only human who needs a day off in order to make the rest of the days of the week be amazing. I am only human who is doing the best I can with the hand that I have been dealt. We, as human beings, can only do so much. Now, this is not a cure all. There are still a lot of days where I sit and feel guilty that nothing got done. Especially when I sink into the 24/7 news cycle or try to shut off my brain with binge reading a book. However, with the guilt, I am also learning to be compassionate to myself.

That compassion starts with being human and taking one deep breath. Then another. Sit, breathe deep, and remember that we are trying. That we need to be nice to ourselves and then we can be nice to each other.

Stay safe out there as we are all in this together.