Let me start by stating some obvious things. The current state of things sucks. Yes, it sucks. A lot. It sucks that we have a handful of places we can go. It sucks that we have an extreme limited of people we can see that are not on a screen. (However, thank goodness for technology) It sucks that we have to go to such extensive measures to keep our family, friends, loved ones and just ourselves healthy. Its stressful in so many ways. Our jobs, at home and otherwise have changed drastically. The availability of resources have changed drastically. So again, yes it all sucks. We’re in such a period of uncertainty and we can almost not figure out what or who to believe.
Believe me, I feel the pain too. Last week, or maybe a couple days ago, honestly they are all running together these days. I had a conversation with my husband about if i’d rather have this happen in the winter when we’re all stuck inside ANYWAY. Or right now when the weather is a toss up but all the activities that we look forward to have suddenly disappeared. My two young boys have a lot of energy that I have to figure a way to get out. Running around the house is getting old and Cooper is now bored of the trail we’ve been to every morning. Its fresh air and exercise though.
I’m not the best a meal planning so I get stressed trying to figure out dinner every night on a somewhat normal basis, now its even worse. I’ve learned to get a little more creative in my dinners since we are trying not to get eat out.
Point being, everyone is frustrated. Most every person is dealing with fear be it from job situation, financial, food, health, or maybe just the overwhelming uncertainty. So many of us do not deal well with uncertainty. I’ve found that coping with uncertainty is something we all avoid at all costs until we are forced to. We go back to basic necessities. We get down, dirty, and gain some grit to figure out how to keep ourselves and our families sane, keep our routine as much as humanly possible.
My question to you. How are you showing up for the people that need you most? Now don’t get all defensive on me about how you can’t do anything or go anywhere and there are no activities. I’m not saying don’t sit down and turn on cartoons or whatever that everyone enjoys. With as much time as we’re probably spending with a very limited amount of people, we all need some down time and our space. Showing up may mean you have to find an extra few min to take a quick walk. It may mean you did great by getting dinner together.
This also means we have to keep moving ourselves forward. It may not seem like it, but things are still happening in the world. They are still changing rapidly. This means things will look different when we return to whatever normal will be. I’ve seen a lot of people say they refuse to accept that the current situation is normal. And I agree. But when we return to activities, there will be a new normal. Companies will operate different if they are still in business. People will prioritize things differently and do things differently. I can see a lot of companies telling people to stay remote since they’ve had to figure it out anyway.
So again I ask. How are you showing up for the people who need you most? There has been plenty of time to sit and be pissed off and just say this sucks. When this ends, will you be able to look back and be satisfied with how you handled things? Will you be able to think to yourself, “I did everything I could to come out of this the best way possible.” Or will you look back and think, “Yeah I probably could have done things a little different.”
Showing up can be small things, and it looks different for everyone.
1. Figure out how you best cope with stress and focus on that
2. Find time to get yourself to relax as much as possible (yes I know, easier said than done)
3.Take breaks when you need them, constant together time is too much for lots of people
4. Connect with people as best you can and there are lots of options right now to help
5. Change your state. Get up and move to a different room, change an activity. Its been shocking to me how even just a little change can fix an attitude.
6. Remember that everyone is in a heightened level of stress
Remember we will get past this eventually. We need people to show up for us, but we need to show up for people too. It sucks that this is what we have to do. But, we do what we have to do to get through and move past.