The word RESILIENCY keeps coming into my mind over the last few days.
“Resilience is the ability to bounce back from stress, adversity, failure, challenges, or even trauma”
Resiliency does not mean that bad things will never happen to you, or that you won’t be affected by them. It means that when they do, you will be able to navigate them and come back from the brink, just as strong or even stronger than before.
So why have I been thinking about resiliency lately?
Honestly, because I feel like socially isolating for months at a time can actually be akin to a trauma for a lot of people.
The Atlantic ran an article recently about quarantine fatigue, and that ish is real! “Many people are experiencing the profound burden of extreme physical and social distancing. In addition to the economic hardship it causes, isolation can severely damage psychological well-being, especially for people who were already depressed or anxious before the crisis started. In a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly half of Americans said that the coronavirus pandemic has harmed their mental health.”
There is no doubt in my mind that it is absolutely essential to stay home whenever we can, to ensure that we flatten the curve. But how do we do that while also protecting our own mental health?
Here is a roadmap for adapting social isolation, and emerging even stronger than before…
Build connections. We are not an island. As humans we were not designed to do it alone, so prioritize (healthy) relationships right now, and lean in to this tribe.
Foster wellness. I mean..duhhhh! Take care of your body, your mind and your soul. It’s so easy to give in to emotional eating & drinking right now, but make it a priority to workout every day and eat well at least most of the time. And if you’re struggling, reach out to your coach or the group. That’s what we are here for!
Avoid negative outlets. We all have those friends who just love to gossip and look for the negative in everything right?! Now is *not* the time to be leaning into those friends. Protect your peace and your positivity, and take a break from the negativity. Same goes for 24/7 news cycles ;)
Embrace healthy thoughts. I don’t want you just avoiding negative outlets, I want you to actively *seek out * healthy thoughts, and healthy people. Yes, things are tough right now, but there also amazing thing happening in the world. People are helping each other, slowing down, communities are coming together. Keep things in perspective - this will not last forever, and we will all be OK, even if we are forever changed.
Find a purpose. Research shows that helping others improves our own happiness, resiliency and emotional health. Take a meal to a friend, go grocery shopping for someone who is quarantining, send a gift ‘just because’ to a friend who is struggling.
Your homework (because you all know I can’t write something without giving out homework!) is to write a resiliency menu for yourself.
Write 5 things that you can start working on today to improve your resiliency. This will help you for life, not just during this social isolation.
