These days, our world may well have turned upside down, but we must not allow that to turn our lives inside out.
We need to be very diligent – even vigilant – about our well-being, including our physical, mental and emotional well-being.
If ever there was a time to admit that we don’t know it all, now is the time. It is imperative we trust public health authorities and our provincial and federal governments in their imperatives for any living we do outside our homes.
But there is more we need to do to keep ourselves physically intact. If ever there was a time that we need to not slip and sprain an ankle and further burden our health system, to not sit on our glasses that we rely on completely (and can’t get them replaced now), to not rush down the stairs and suffer a concussion, now is the time.
How do we learn to also safeguard our mental and emotional lives, especially when we may not have had any concerns about them before? We all have our strategies for wellness in “normal” times. These are not normal times, and we are required to adopt strategies we may not have considered before.
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If there ever was a time to filter the “news”on the radio, TV and online, and demands our attention, now is the time. There’s no gain in heightening our real fears by believing sensational stories, falling for unfounded claims of a cure for the virus, or buying into prognostications that, looked at rationally, are blatantly off-the-wall.
If ever there was a time to move on from being stuck in a relationship with someone close, to let bygones to be bygones, now is the time. We need to carry as little emotional and mental baggage as possible these days.
There’s no room for feeling slighted because someone hasn’t been in touch. There’s no room for resentment over some past incident.
There are huge positive reasons to forgive someone else if we can, and to even forgive ourselves (cut ourselves some slack), for things we have done or not done.
If ever there was a time to be kind and gentle and patient with ourselves, to allow ourselves to chuckle when we encounter something humorous, to know that we will experience two springs this year – one now, and one after the harsh “winter” of the pandemic we are experiencing has passed – now is the time.
Nan Dickie is a local author, speaker and former facilitator of a Salmon Arm depression support group in Salmon Arm.