You know that thing you’ve been noticing in yourself? It happens when you check your email and get a barrage from all the companies and organizations, most that have no real bearing on your life, on how they are handling COVID-19. You turn to the news, social media, or whatever format you choose to digest information these days. You find yourself searching for answers...
What is happening? When will this be over? Am I safe? What’s the cause? What’s the next thing that’s going to be cancelled? What can I do?
And the daily sinking does not go away, and that’s likely for this reason: emotions.
Some of us deny having them ourselves, some of us spend hours criticizing others for “not having them,” and still others of us say “we can’t let them rule us”. However we chose to view emotions before now, we may have thought we were doing a good job managing and getting by or over or through daily life.
But if this pandemic is showing us anything, at least in America, it is that we are not the most emotionally savvy country.
It is probably just as important during this time to take note of how to stay well emotionally as much as physically. Yes, hand-washing, social isolation and now mask wearing are important, but the conversation that is crucial to staying mentally, emotionally and spiritually well. These are issues that many are vulnerable to beyond the immunocompromised, so it is time we do some gut checking on our emotional competency. Truth be told, these are probably things we all need to be doing anyway - there is nothing like a little “encouragement” in the form of a pandemic!
Over the next six days, we’ll post 1 way “to be” during the current state of things, including emotions to experience and ways to respond in the midst of those emotions. We will kick things off tomorrow so check back in…