
Itâs been several months since weâve been living in the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the pandemic, have come insurmountable changes in our lives. Too many lives have been lost, millions of people have lost their jobs, many of us are lonely from social distancing and struggling to navigate the virtual world, weâve had a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter matter movement due to police brutality and white supremacy, we went through the tumultuous 2020 presidential election and thereâs still likely more to come.
Itâs more than safe to say a lot has happened in 2020, and the pandemic has been a contributing factor in many of these monumental events in our lives this year. Most of us are still adjusting to the changes that have happened this year thus far. This will be the first time in our lives the winter holidays will take place during a pandemic, and these holidays will be celebrated (if celebrated) in different ways than usual. And, for those of us who are still able to work or are studying in school, navigating these dynamics virtually or socially distancing poses several challenges. This has, in no shape or form, been a normal or easy year.
Thereâs a push to stay motivated during this time. You can find countless articles on tips for how to be productive during the pandemic, how to manage your mental health and how to still socialize, albeit differently. Maybe someone in your life is telling you that bit of advice themselves. Thereâs a push for us to operate our lives as usual, working toward the same or near-same goals as we had prior to the pandemic. People want a sense of normalcy in their lives, and with the pandemic lasting as long as it has with no certain end date, this is more than understandable. Taking control of what you can in your life is an empowering feeling that can tremendously help your sense of well-being, which is especially crucial during this time.
But the push to return to our ânormalâ lives and adjust to our new challenges with ease is not realistic. For people fortunate enough to still have jobs or school, a safe place to live and access to technology, things may not be as dire as they could be, but we donât have that kind of insight into each personâs life. While one person may find staying at home a good way for them to get more done, others live in self-isolation and struggle to get through the day.
For people who previously had mental health issues, this time is likely harder than the previous years because we canât combat feelings of loneliness as easily as we could in the past, where we could safely hang out in person. Everyone is in a different situation right now: financially, emotionally, physically and in other areas of their lives. Expecting other people, or in more cases than not, yourself, to simply function as you did before we lived in a pandemic is unrealistic and puts unnecessary, stressful expectations on ourselves.
Thereâs so much going on already outside of our control that the last thing we need is to self-impose stress on ourselves. The world is stressed out right now, and likely, so are you. We are not OK.
Itâs OK if you donât feel like getting out of bed every morning. Itâs OK if you donât feel like doing laundry every day. Itâs OK if you donât feel like cooking your own meals right now. Itâs OK if you donât feel like applying for the tenth job youâve applied for this year when your past opportunities have been canceled during the pandemic. Or if you never heard back from one place, or received a rejection letter soon after applying and youâre feeling generally discouraged about job hunting. Itâs OK if you donât feel like turning on your camera during a video call, or hopping on a video call with your friends because it just feels exhausting as opposed to meeting someone in person. Itâs OK if you feel sad. Itâs OK if you feel depressed. Itâs OK if you feel apathetic, if you feel OK, if you feel good some days and bad others days, or you simply donât know how you feel.
Thereâs no instruction manual for how youâre supposed to feel during this time. Pressuring yourself to feel a certain way will likely make you feel worse about yourself. Instead, let yourself feel what youâre feeling. Embrace how you feel. There is, of course, always help out there if youâre struggling with your mental health.
Our initial emotional reactions are largely outside of our control. Emotions arenât bad; they simply exist, and often in accordance in what is happening around us. That doesnât necessarily mean that something is âbadâ or âgood,â objectively speaking, but if it feels bad to you, chances are it feels bad to a lot of people, too. And thatâs perfectly OK to feel.
The world is chaotic right now. Itâs understandable if youâre feeling chaotic as well, or all over the place. In the end, accepting what we feel, without expectations on how weâre supposed to feel, will make us feel more at peace with ourselves, even if the world around us isnât.
source https://www.programage.com/news/_1608683413969166.html
0 commentaires:
Publier un commentaire