The response to the coronavirus has presented us with what could be considered the biggest stress test of ourselves individually and of our societies collectively. On one hand our life stresses have increased due to a lack of certainly about our financial futures, the political future, and what the future holds for our families, friends and our communities. At a more granular level the stress within our day to day lives have gone up from the worry of potentially becoming infected with a novel virus, or losing our source of income, or losing our savings, maybe even our homes. These are just a few examples of the compounding stresses we’re being faced with in the current environment.
What makes this situation even more challenging is the lack of outlets and support to deal with these new stresses. At the same time our uncertainty of our future has never been greater, our ability to spend time with friends and family has been greatly restricted, and our ability to partake in social events to feel like a community has all but been erased. Indeed we’re being challenged to face massive uncertainly with minimal support and minimal social outlets.
Learning to Rely on Yourself
It’s time to learn to rely on yourself. Take stock of what you have done in the past to get through stressful times and incorporate what is still possible given the current restrictions on freedom of movement and association. If the current restrictions cut off your preferred way of dealing with stress your challenge is to learn a new way, and that likely means relying even more on yourself. This could mean learning a new skill such as simple meditation, or adopting a new form of exercise. Maybe you will create a daily ritual to spend a few minutes calming your mind listening to music, or getting lost in fiction, or creating some form of art.
Nobody can tell you what will work for you, you will have to discover it on your own, and once the current situation passes, hopefully you will have added a new skill you can take with you into the next stressful situation life throws at you. Becoming more self reliant at dealing with stress is a good thing, and will serve you well in the future, and now is the time to learn that new skill.
John
