Making the Most of Quarantine: Leaning Into and Rising Above Challenges
Life just has a tendency to be difficult all around. I have had my fair share of challenges long before the current global pandemic, no one is exempt.
These challenges can come in many forms. It may be the death of a loved one. It may be the loss of a job or a lack of financial security.
Maybe you deal with something more emotional like mental health issues: depression, anxiety, etc.
It could be a physically debilitating illness or paralysis.
Maybe it was a broken relationship, betrayal, lies, manipulation…
It doesn’t matter what it was or what it is. Regardless of the circumstances, it’s a challenge.
It’s hard.
It hurts.
This challenge is no different. And for some, it can be considered traumatic. A pandemic is scary and lives are being drastically changed through no fault of their own.
Somedays I still just want to curl up into a ball in my bed for the entire day and just cry and pretend life doesn’t exist. And with me suddenly being unemployed thanks to COVID-19, it could be much easier to live this lifestyle.
Then there is the option for mindless scrolling through the ever-increasing content.
Videos and memes on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat… the list can go on and one for endless entertainment with little to no thought required.
It’s super easy to use this escape from reality as well.
So Why get out of bed?
Even when staying in bed and mindless scrolling is an option, people get bored with it. I don’t think I’ve ever actually managed a full day in bed.
Someone once told me the best way to fight off this “stay-in-bed-and-pretend-the-world-doesn’t-exist” strategy is to find a purpose.
If you have a purpose, you have a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Usually, that reason is to go to work because you have to, so you can afford to do the things you want to do. What happens when that disappears? Both the job and having things you want to do can disappear in an instant.
Then what?
How do you find a reason to do something — anything, really — that you don’t want to do?
This can vary from person to person. What are your strengths? What are the things you like to do? How can this be used to help someone? Who else might feel the same way?
I was talking with a friend of mine this morning who didn’t think they had anything to contribute except staying home. I had to remind them of the many, many talents and abilities they bring to the table on a daily basis. All that is changing is the how.
Children are still going to school, they are just doing it online. Many are still working remotely. Businesses that have had to temporarily close their doors are still finding ways to be engaged and useful.
For example, hotels along the Las Vegas strip have closed. Food that would have fed guests is being donated to those who are unable to provide groceries during this time. A local gymnastics academy is modifying their workouts to be done at home and workouts are sent as videos.
If we are unable to change how we do things, we won’t make it through the quarantine. Not professionally, not mentally, not emotionally and not physically. Each of these areas still needs work and stimulation.
Making Changes
Entrepreneurs have been changing things for years. They focus on the results more than how it gets done. They have to be flexible in the way they do things because if something doesn’t work, it has to change. Sometimes their own survival depends on it, sometimes it’s to provide for families or employees. They know every little thing they do matters.
They have learned to adapt to working online, they have adapted their marketing strategies, they have adjusted their product.
Change is inevitable.
It can be so difficult to let go of things that have been so consistent in our lives… Where we live, where we work, our daily commute, our daily routine, even our mindset about ideas. It’s comfortable. It’s safe. It’s familiar.
So when those things no longer work — are no longer safe — it can feel like everything we have ever known is crashing down around us.
But the thing about the destruction of the life we knew… is we can build something new. Something better.
I have already seen so many benefits to the changes being made.
The air in large, polluted cities is clear. People are reaching out to actually connect to others. People are giving and serving others.
And those are just the basic changes — more like side effects.
Think of what can happen when we decidedly choose to make a change. When we choose to start actually doing something to help. Something that can give us purpose.
It’s one thing to see good news. It’s another to be a part of the good news.
Change, if we let it, can make us so much better. if we can adapt with it.
The wind does not break the tree that bends. — Tanzanian Proverb
It’s a Tunnel
One of my mentors, Richie Norton, understands trauma, difficulties, and challenges. He is open about the many struggles he has had, including the death of a son, Gavin, at just 76 days old. From that experience, he realized that grief is a tunnel, not a cave.
You can keep moving forward in a tunnel, but with a cave, you can only go so far. And at the end of the tunnel, do you really want to be the same person that you went in as? Or would you prefer the journey to make you stronger, wiser and maybe even a little bit more kind to those who have to face a similar struggle?
Things won’t always be hard. Little by little, day by day, you adjust to a new normal.
You are the only one who can choose that new normal.
Will your new normal be grief, anger, fear or sadness?
Or will it be strength, adaptability, kindness, joy, and gratitude?
It won’t all come at once. But little by little these feelings grow as life stretches on. Time doesn’t stop just because of a virus.
Who do you want to be at the end of the tunnel?
How Can I Change?
What can I do? These are common questions that you may be facing. Think of one thing. Maybe it’s one thing you are good at or one thing you miss. Find a way to make that happen, and share this will others.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more ideas of what you can do to make that change.
