During this pandemic we are all outside our comfort zones in one way or another. Uncertainty rocks the stock market and our daily lives. Some of us are being impacted financially, socially or medically, testing our personal resilience and putting some people into a state of blind panic and insecurity. However, your response can be more positive and does not have to mirror this. Some have lost their businesses and financial security but feel glad to be fit and healthy. Some are welcoming the social isolation as it gives them the time to slow down, reflect and focus on the now.
It has never been so clear that people experience events in different ways. People’s responses don’t simply have to depend on the impact the event has had on them because there are always a range of responses. What follows are some top tips for healthy thinking when living at the edge of our comfort zones.
- How you think about the situation dictates how you will feel about it
- No matter how dangerous life seems, you are probably going to come through this
- The world is still turning, the birds are singing, and the skies are clearing of pollution
- Your neighbours are smiling, dancing and clapping for carers and those in the NHS
- There is a levelling in how the virus attacks the rich and poor, the powerful and powerless – but thankfully it is generally kind to children
- Many are using new technology and communicating with people they didn’t have time for before this happened
- Being grateful. This creates the ultimate resilience – do a mini gratitude meditation every day if you can. Find a way to be kind and generous – and have kind and generous thoughts. Know that the vast majority of people around you are good and well-intentioned. Realise that the few that aren’t are lost and unhappy. Try to forgive them because they are doing their best they can with the thinking they have.
- Read, sing, dance and laugh as much as possible. This stops negative, catastrophic thinking which is both is damaging and non-productive. Catch yourself before you make up stories that end in complete disaster. It might happen – but it probably won’t. Make the best of this time.
- Whatever happens, you have the innate resilience to survive and – if you get the thinking right – thrive. Life and learning really do begin at the edge of your comfort zone…