Your new behaviors are like habits: What if this is a fresh start?
If you're like me, you've been bombarded with emails lately and they either:
1. Tell you what you should be doing
2. Give you a COVID-19 update
3. Spell gloom and doom
4. Sell you an online product that will change your life or
5. A combo of all of the above.
I'm not so into that, it's SO VERY tiring. Instead I'll just leave you with a few thoughts I've been having since we started sheltering in place.
I went to Trader Joe's last week to get groceries. I felt a lot of anxiety before going since TJs is already typically crowded and the thought of the chaos that could be there was mind-numbing. But we also needed groceries.
Long story short, Trader Joe's is doing the most amazing job making shopping feel safe and calm. Produce was fully stocked, proteins were fully stocked. There was even toilet paper!
Do you know what was missing?
Ice cream, almost all of the cookies, almost all of the chocolate (including chocolate chips), and potato chips.
Clearly we're eating our feelings. And, hey, ZERO judgement since chocolate and ice cream were on our grocery list, too. Oh, well.
Here's the thing: We are a world going through such a huge range of emotions. I'm not here to shame a single person for how they're reacting to this new world.
I AM here to point something out, though.
If this is a New Normal For Now, regardless of how long, then the new behaviors we adopt in the New Normal For Now will become new habits. And those habits will decide how we feel inside and out. And I can tell you that if grocery stores continue to be out of ice cream and cookies and chocolate and chips, we'll be feeling SUPER shitty inside and out soon enough.
What if we flipped the script about this whole situation? Yeah, let's give ourselves a small window of time to "get through this" and feel our feelings. Can we then remind ourselves that feelings are not permanent? And then, can we see if this situation could serve as an opportunity to create new habits to help us feel GOOD?
We could figure out how to exercise at home; try out some new recipes; tidy up to create more mental space; go to sleep earlier; journal; meditate; take up running with your dog while also socially distancing (see photo above). We can learn to be there for each other, lean on each other, connect more (thanks, Zoom!).
OK, I'm going to sign off before this becomes a "tell you what you should be doing" email. Know that you're not alone. We are all in this together. I am here for you to connect with.
