Attitude Adjustments
Many of us are hitting a new stage in response to the pandemic as we enter its third year. Pandemic slog is the feeling that no matter how much progress we seem to make, we feel stuck, anxious and a general malaise. We are less motivated and inspired to transcend inevitable obstacles and disappointments.
In a sociological survey conducted by the University of Chicago, 24 percent of Americans reported they were “not too happy” with their lives in 2021, which is up from 13% in 2018.
Despite COVID waning, fear is giving way to dejection and melancholy. Brief spurts of hope when cases start to wane become dashed by the emergence of a new variant. Many people remain unhappy.
7 Steps To Get Out of Pandemic Slog
Everyone possesses the capacity to respond constructively to the unpredictability of life and transform walls into doors and obstacles and into opportunities. We can live with joy regardless of our external circumstances.
To do that, here are 7 steps to extricate yourself from pandemic slog and get back to living:
1. Acknowledge What You Can Change and What You Cannot
Make two lists: One list contains all the things you can do something about, and the second list contains all the things you can’t do anything about. For instance, every moment complaining about the news or pandemic protocols is a moment missed to do what we can to improve our lives and those around us.
2. Remind Yourself of Open Doors
Identify personal examples in your life when a seeming obstacle or “closed door” revealed a new and exciting opportunity, e.g., sometimes a rejection moves us into a new relationship filled with deeper alignment and joy. Make this a weekly practice.
3. Count Your Blessings
When you open your eyes every morning, express gratitude for three gifts in your life. Anyone who ever had a kidney stone, will never forget the pain and subsequent joy in the simple but miraculous functioning of our bodies.
4. Do Not Lament the Darkness, Increase the Light
Choose one act of kindness today to make the world a better place. The gesture will lift your soul and infuse optimism in your life.
5. Develop Happiness Skills
Try a one hour blessing fest. Spend one hour writing everything for which you are grateful. The first twenty minutes are easy but stay with the exercise for the entire time. It will force you to look at your life as never before.
6. Identify a Friend or Mentor who Can Inspire you to Reframe Your Life Perspective
Surround yourself with people of faith, joy and positive attitudes.
7. Emulate Mariano
Read a chapter or verse of Psalms every day. Professional baseball player Mariano Rivera loves the book as it reinforces his belief that God gave him talents to harness every day. Reading the Psalms will refresh and renew your life purpose.
Pandemic slog is real, and it offers us a unique moment to strengthen ourselves and reimagine our definition of happiness and life purpose. We will all experience disappointments and surprises in life. These are moments to reaffirm our faith in ourselves and in our capacity to elevate the world around us.