One Way or Another
Author: be well™ with Big Y® Registered Dietitian Team
No matter where the next few months take us, we will get there.
The key is taking care of yourself, and each other, along the way.
With recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local municipalities updating regarding COVID-19, it may feel a bit overwhelming to consider returning to mandated protocols. What you’re feeling is expected, understandable and shared. Where we find ourselves is part of the process of finding our footing in a world amidst building immunity to a virus that is ever changing.
So, what to do during this tug and pull from things become quasi-normal to seemingly stepping back in time? Understand that one way or another, you and your loved ones will get through. Spend more energy on focusing on what is than what you think should be.
What is:
- Emotional. One minute you may be feeling exasperated and the next cheerful. The yo-yoing of feelings underway is part of processing the collective trauma we’ve been going through since early 2020.
- Unknown. We truly don’t know how things are going to go from one day to the next. We’re very good as humans at constructing our version of reality, but when it comes to a virus, we just don’t know where it will take us.
- Change. Whether it’s the type of work, relationships or lifestyle we’re able to maintain, change is afoot.
How to cope:
- Practice self-compassion and empathy for others will cultivate. If you’re feeling all the feels-let them be. Name them, acknowledge them and give them space to play out. The answer is always to give space to feel and allow emotions to run their course so you don’t become ill.
- Make each day your focus. That way you’re not creating expectations for situations that may not, and/or cannot, be down the road.
- Stay on the ball of your feet. If you’ve ever played sports you may remember being told to rest your weight on the balls of your feet so you can nimbly pivot from one situation to the next. In life as we know it now, we need to stay on the ball of our feet and be prepared to pivot at any given moment to follow life, and the pandemic, where it may lead us.
Published 9/1/2021