With the coronavirus leading us to a lockdown, we are living in a time of change and uncertainty. With change and uncertainty comes challenges to our daily lives: physically, practically, financially, emotionally and psychologically, and it may feel that we are completely out of control of our own lives.
Change is inevitable in life, even when life is ‘normal’, we change job, move house, begin and end relationships, start families, set goals for fitness and weight loss, etc., and we will all deal with that change in different ways.
For some people, change is the spice of life and keeps life interesting and exciting, it keeps people motivated and enjoying the adventure of that change, so these people are probably taking this time of lock down in their stride.
For others, change can trigger all sorts of negative and harmful thoughts and emotions, to include stress, anxiety and depression.
It’s important during any time, and especially now, to remember that even when we feel life is out of control, we CAN control our thoughts, and it’s incredibly important that we do this, as our thoughts impact on our emotions, our emotions impact on our behaviours and our behaviours impact on our relationships (with ourselves, other people, exercise, food, money, etc.) and our overall experience of any situation.
So, stop, take a breath and evaluate your thoughts. Are they negative, harmful and out of control, triggering you to spiral into harmful emotions and feelings, or are they kind, supportive and positive, helping you to deal with and make the most out of the current situation?
So, how do we keep our thoughts positive? Well, the words we use to create, construct and convey our thoughts are incredibly powerful, so take a moment to take stock of the words you are using, and see if you can change any negative words into positive and powerful words.
For example, instead of thinking, ‘Argh, this is scary and a nightmare situation’, we could be thinking, ‘Ok, this situation is serious, but all I need to do is look after myself and my family, and follow the guidelines until all of this blows over’.
Instead of thinking, ‘Urgh, I’m trapped in this house and I’m stuck with nothing to do, and I’m out of control during this lock down’, we could be thinking, ‘Ok, this is an opportunity to focus on my life, to connect with myself and the family I am living with, and/or my friends and family remotely using technology’.
Instead of thinking, ‘This is really boring, and I’ve got nothing to do’, we could be thinking, ‘Right, I’ve got several weeks to achieve something, what goal am I going to set and how am I going to go about achieving it?’
So, take stock, are you using positive words to create your thoughts, and are you controlling those thoughts to ensure that you are able to make the best out of this situation?