Our world and lives have changed dramatically in the time span of just a few weeks. And we are now ALL thinking of our health and well being in a very serious way. And for most of us, whether we like it or not, this virus has overtaken our lives in many ways: it’s all over the news, our jobs and workplace environment has changed, our kids can’t go to school – and what’s next? This has caused many of us a lot of stress and anxiety. That isn’t good for anyone!
I’m not going to get into yet another Coronavirus rant and talk about how it affects our society, or our “at risk” population, or how it is spreading… I’ll leave those rants to the big media networks – God knows they do enough of it, and who knows what is true – and we’re probably all sick of it by now.
Instead I want to talk about the great unknown – and how THAT is what is perhaps most frightening of it all.
This “thing” seems to have really taken off just a couple of weeks ago and we’ve been in a craze ever since. And we find ourselves living a life that fluctuates hour-by-hour, or as announcements and decisions are being made – some of which are being made for us – and they are out of our control. But the overall “theme” – if I can call it that – for me, has been that we just simply don’t know anything! I mean, not really. We don’t know if this thing will last another two weeks, or two months – or God forbid, further than that. We don’t know the social, economic, or environmental impacts that this virus will have. We have an idea, and almost none of those ideas are good…
That great unknown is perhaps what is the most fearful element about this whole thing. And since this is my “health column,” you might be asking why I’m not talking about health. But of course I am! Stress and anxiety are two major players that can be detrimental to our health.
None of us have the answers right now, but we hope that our elected officials and all of these smart scientists know a whole hell of a lot more than we do so that they can help to keep all of us safe. But not knowing is really hard – and it can cause us a lot of stress and deep-seated anxiety. And the question of how to cope with that is as individualized as you and I are.
How I cope with it is by rolling with the punches and not freaking myself out too much (as hard is that may seem on certain days). No good will come of freaking out though, at least not for me because my system will go into fibro-overload if I do. So I am doing everything that I can to keep my family and loved ones healthy and safe, as am I doing for my employees and business, as well as for myself.
My motto during this whole thing has become, “Let’s hope for the best, but plan for the worst.”
And in doing so, I’m doing my best to keep myself healthy and avoiding just about everyone. I’m trying to keep life as normal as possible, not just for my own sanity but also for my kids. They shouldn’t have to worry about the world’s problems – they should just have to worry about being kids. This is too heavy for them anyway. And I also find myself constantly having to remind myself that, “no, no, this is really happening!” Because this stuff is just too surreal! This is the stuff of movies! And I find it really hard to comprehend sometimes, and that causes me some anxiety – how is THIS our reality?? But I think we are all asking ourselves that on the daily.
So folks… I have no answers. All I know is that we are all stressed and worried. Some of us more than others. It is a strange time, and a fearful time. But we need to remain calm and we need to stay healthy. So let’s all do what we can.
Stay healthy. Stay safe. And stay home.
