Coping with many of Life’s frustrations used to be limited to managing too busy schedules and meeting personal/family obligations. We thought we were in over our heads many days but the lurking reality was that little of what we were stressing over was of great significance. If you missed your kid’s soccer match, there were hurt feelings, but nobody died.
Then Real Life barged in the doorway and offered up a pandemic in which a failure of protocol could have consequences of substance. Coping with this is a whole new challenge.
I Won’t Be in Today…
Remember calling in sick because you really wanted to do something else or maybe just needed a mental health day? The theatrics of trying to “sound sick” on the phone call?
Unless you were battling some significant dysfunction in the body, sickness was limited mostly to the occasional cold or allergies. Sick enough to feel crappy but still able to move about the house unassisted. Some of us even continued to go to school/work because “it really wasn’t that bad.” Soldiering on while fighting a virus was even socially acceptable, though we usually suffered longer.
Flu occasionally caught on and that was when you knew you were really sick, but the attitude was that this too shall pass. Just ride out the bug, and the side effects of the medications, and all would be better tomorrow.
A New World
With the appearance of COVID-19 in world populations, perspective shifted. A new-on-the-scene virus had the ability to exploit physical weaknesses where no other similar virus had ever been. This exploitation led to an array of physical responses, depending on the person’s Health, Immune System, age, and even genetic makeup. From being infected and showing no outward signs of infection, to severe illness and death, the virus behaved differently in everyone.
With time and scientific innovation, we figured out the behavior of the virus and developed responses to counteract the severity of COVID-19 infections. From vaccines to medications, we now have an array of treatments to counteract some of the worst parts of an infection. Science works!
We also have governments and individuals that politicized this scientific progress, much to the detriment of the people they were supposed to be serving. No matter where one’s opinions may lie along this political spectrum, I think we can agree that drawing battle-lines to bicker amongst ourselves did little to contribute to a frightened and sickened world population.
Coping Mechanisms Are Us
Coping means we can’t go back and undo what has already been done, nor do we want to do so. As always, we get to work where we are. We can keep an eye towards the future we would like to build, and an eye glancing back to learn from our past, but our efforts are in the now.
The state of our physical and mental health is job number one now. We have learned that no one does a better job of looking out for our Health is us. Acknowledging and acting upon our individual needs may seem selfish but with all the ambiguity that Life has been offering up lately, adding some self-supportive measures makes sense.
We have known about Mind-Body connections for generations. What we think affects our bodies (think: chronic stress and heart disease) and how we treat our bodies affect our minds (obesity and depression). I usually focus on the body effects but covering some of our emotional/thoughts concerns can be equally profound.
A Few Ideas
Grief
Whether the death of a person, change in job status, or other change, loss is a natural part of Living but it does not happen in a vacuum. We all need to work through the loss in the context of our normal lives that probably don’t feel so normal now. Allowing grief to happen is important to our healing.
Simplify
One thing that the pandemic has pointed out to me is to figure out what is important. De-cluttering is the latest buzzword, but the concept is old. Clean up your room. Whether it is a physical space or personal one, getting rid of things that no longer serve a purpose in your life can be liberating. It needn’t be all at once, so start with the little things. A gradual change in life can provide a wonderful sense of control.
Mindfulness
Another familiar concept. Be here. Be now.
We live so much of our lives in our thoughts and emotions, it can be recharging to just be. Whether it is sitting in Nature or cleaning the house, focusing on the situation at the moment reminds us all the living that takes place around us every day.
Gratitude
Being thankful and thanking others also connects us into that living that takes place around us. At the end of the day, the personal achievement was not the latest hot topic of debate on social media but how you felt when giving and/or receiving thanks.
One of my best days in practice was when I had finished treating a patient and she stopped in the doorway as she left. She turned and said, “thank you”. That was all but it has stayed with me. You can have the same effect on someone too.
Real Expectations
With all the hyperbole and shouting in the media, is it no wonder that we are all more than a little frazzled. While concerns about the pandemic are real, the constant threats of dramatic changes have been overplayed. It is time for each of us to sit down, look at what we’ve got, and decide what is best for us and our loved ones. The answers to your questions are more reliably answered from within.
Though many of us have not been practicing being adults for a while, we do know how it’s done. Let’s be who we are instead of who others what us to be.
Real Food
Fuel the efforts. To power our bodies, we need real nutrition. Eating food that has been minimally processed provides the best support for our bodily functions. It also feels a whole lot better, thus contributing to a sense of well-being. A pretty good two-for-one deal.
Getting Real
In case you may not have noticed, none of these suggestions involve purchasing any exclusive product or subscribing to any philosophy. These coping mechanisms are free and require no special training. They do, however, require practice, so just put them into play.
You are still free to participate in the craziness that is the outside world today. Just know that you can feel more like yourself while doing it.
Be the change you want to see in your Self.
Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.
― Terry Pratchett
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