{"id":1071,"date":"2020-07-06T09:14:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-05T23:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knowledge.lifetick.com\/?p=1071"},"modified":"2021-08-05T20:08:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T10:08:15","slug":"overcoming-adversity-in-an-uncertain-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/knowledge.lifetick.com\/?p=1071","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming adversity in an uncertain world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Guest post by Lachlan Brown from <a href=\"http:\/\/hackspirit.com\">hackspirit.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Waking up\nevery day to the news of thousands of new infections and deaths, of second\nwaves occurring in places where the virus was thought to have been defeated, of\neconomies crashing because of forced lockdowns \u2013 it\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For all of us\naround the world, this has been our reality for the last several months. How do\nwe move forward and how do we plan for a better tomorrow when the world seems\nto be crashing down all around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this\narticle, we explore widespread adversity and how to overcome it even when\nnothing seems to be going right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Collective Trauma \u2013 The Shared Psychological\nTrauma You Might Be Feeling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For many of\nus, the transition from normal life to global lockdowns, thousands of daily\ndeaths, and distressing reports felt like it happened overnight. We barely had\nthe time to adjust to a new world filled with daily stress and bad news that\npersonally affected all of our lives, and this has led to a phenomenon\npsychologists refer to as \u2018collective trauma\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trauma is\ngenerally associated with psychological trauma, when a person experiences a\nhorrific event and becomes permanently scarred by it. But trauma can also exist\nin the form of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhpr.org\/post\/lifelines-how-covid-19-has-led-collective-trauma#stream\/0\"> <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhpr.org\/post\/lifelines-how-covid-19-has-led-collective-trauma#stream\/0\">shared or collective trauma<\/a>. This occurs when society experiences a\nsignificant and abrupt negative change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In barely any\ntime at all, everything we knew about our world \u2013 the world that affects us\npersonally every day \u2013 changed. Our routines, social structures, day-to-day\nresponsibilities and expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These sudden,\nonce-in-a-lifetime disruptions invalidated the reality that we trusted in and\nknew all our lives, and this in turn invalidated the frameworks of our own\nlives: how can we build towards any kind of better future if we don\u2019t even know\nif our world will still be the same tomorrow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For billions\nof people around the world, the disorientation caused by COVID-19 has been\nenough to plant the seeds of what might be lifelong emotional trauma and PTSD.\nAccording to researchers, the coronavirus pandemic will<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/03\/27\/coronavirus-pandemic-could-inflict-long-lasting-emotional-trauma-ptsd.html\"> <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/03\/27\/coronavirus-pandemic-could-inflict-long-lasting-emotional-trauma-ptsd.html\">affect billions of us through\nthis shared trauma<\/a>,\nand our next biggest responsibility after overcoming it \u2013 if we can overcome it\n\u2013 is dealing with the widespread emotional distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Re-Centering Your Reality: Helping Yourself\nGet Back on Your Feet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe you\nknew on Day 1, or maybe you tried your best to avoid the reality of what was\nhappening to you as the lockdown weeks went on. But either way you realized \u2013\nthe dark cloud over your head caused by the post-COVID-19 world wasn\u2019t like\nanything you\u2019d experienced before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a\nfeeling that needs more than just your usual \u201cpick-me-ups\u201d, one you are\nprobably still dealing with today. But how do you shake it off when its claws\nare dug in so deep? You need to re-center your reality and live more consciously\nof the stress if you want any chance to get rid of it. Here\u2019s how you can\nbegin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1) Stop Guilting Yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our world\nruns on productivity \u2013 those who are most productive are usually most\nsuccessful. We encourage ourselves everyday with positive affirmations\nreminding us that we can do it and we are the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in this\npost-lockdown world, productivity has become a source of pain and stress rather\nthan one of accomplishment. We are simply incapable of being our old selves\nwith the weight of this global tragedy on our shoulders. But instead of\naccepting this, we guilt ourselves, saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Why can\u2019t you work? You aren\u2019t sick. <\/li><li>You finally have all the free time you wanted. Why don\u2019t you do anything? Are you just lazy? <\/li><li>You\u2019re so pathetic. You can\u2019t get anything done.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Stop. If you\nare doing this to yourself, stop. Accept your pain; you are traumatized, and\nuntil this is over \u2013 or until you finally have the time you need to truly\naccept this new world \u2013 you won\u2019t be your old self. And that\u2019s okay. No one is\ntheir old self right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you <em>must<\/em>work\nor do anything productive, remember the line: <strong>Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.<\/strong> What does this mean? It\nmeans that a 15-minute jog is better than no jog at all. Getting up and\npracticing an instrument or reading a book or making art for half an hour\neveryday might not be the kind of productivity you are used to, but it\u2019s better\nthan doing nothing at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be <a href=\"https:\/\/hackspirit.com\/how-to-love-yourself\/\">kind to yourself<\/a>, and celebrate even your smallest victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2) Stay Connected with Those Important to You<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Isolation is\ntough enough on its own for most of us, but isolation on top of daily tragic\nnews is enough to make even the biggest introverts yearn for companionship.\nWhat we don\u2019t realize is just how much passive and automatic connection we get\nfrom our daily lives, and when our normal daily lives are stripped from us, we\nmust reach out more actively to keep our connections going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay in touch\nwith your friends and family. Chat with them, video call them, and make more of\nan effort to stay involved in their lives and keep them involved in yours.\nDon\u2019t lose out on face-to-face contact, even if it\u2019s done completely through\nscreens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3) Feel What You Need to Feel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your pain is your pain. When you wake up and feel that pain in your heart another day, that pain is real and that pain is a part of you. Don\u2019t run from it; don\u2019t hide from it. Pushing it down will make your situation worse. As the popular line from John Green goes, \u201cPain demands to be felt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this\nincludes both mental and physical pain. This collective trauma can force us to\nfeel physical symptoms like heart palpitations and shortness of breath. If you\nstart feeling any of these, embrace it, but don\u2019t spiral. Give yourself the\nmoments you need to cycle through these emotions, and let them pass through you\nwhenever they demand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For added\nrelief, start chronicling your <a href=\"https:\/\/ideapod.com\/6-surprising-benefits-writing-thoughts-feelings\/\">daily feelings in a journal<\/a>. Not only does this give you the time and\nspace to truly reflect on what you are feeling, but it sets a record you can\nlook back on to study the evolution of your emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4) Pace Yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can be\ntempting to stay on the news sites, forums, and social media channels all day,\nevery day, to keep yourself as informed as possible. For some of us, this would\nbe our go-to coping mechanism, with the belief that by knowing exactly what\u2019s\nhappening, we don\u2019t give ourselves any time to wildly speculate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this can\nalso be detrimental to your mental health. Checking the news can quickly spiral\ninto obsessing over the news, adding artificial stress to your life on top of\nthe many real sources of stress you already have to deal with. This obsession\ncan turn into anxiety, resulting in sleepless nights, compulsive behaviors, and\ndepression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Step away\nwhen you start to feel overwhelmed. The world will continue to spin regardless\nof where your attention may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check in from\ntime to time to stay informed, but realize this: the universe will do as it\npleases, regardless of your mental health. This is the kind of situation where\nhow much you know will change nothing about what happens. So let go and free\nyourself from the minute-to-minute worries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5) Inject Rhythm in Your Life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ask yourself:\nwhat day is it today? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you know\nthe answer immediately, or did you have to pause and think about it? Maybe you\ncounted the number of days from the last time you did something. Or maybe you\nchecked the calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If this is\nyou, then your life has lost rhythm. The little bumps that go across the weeks\nhave gone flat; Mondays are the same as Thursdays, Sundays are the same as\nTuesdays. Our Thursday yoga class and our Tuesday deadlines and our Sunday\nchurch visits have been wiped out, and now all we\u2019re left with is a blank calendar\nand lazy but anxious days with no real rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your life\nneeds a schedule, and when you don\u2019t have the events passively giving you that\nschedule, you need to put yourself in charge of making those events happen.\nSchedule weekly virtual meet-ups with your family or friends. Turn Wednesday\nnights into taco and movie nights. Make Saturdays your intense workout day, and\nTuesday your new book day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your life\nneeds rhythm \u2013 those up and down beats that punctuate the days \u2013 or you\u2019ll stop\nlistening to your own song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Accepting the \u201cNew Normal\u201d \u2013 Moving Forward in\na Different World<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a new\nworld, whether we like it or not. It\u2019s one we were rushed into, one none of us\nasked for, and one where thousands of people get sick every day. It\u2019s time to\nlook forward and find ways to move on rather than put our lives on hold\nindefinitely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It\u2019s time to accept the reality of the\nsituation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stop living\nin complete fear of the virus, but don\u2019t live recklessly, either. A vaccine may\ntake years \u2013 the fastest vaccines ever made were the Zika vaccine (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/how-long-will-it-take-to-develop-a-coronavirus-vaccine\">7 months<\/a>) and the mumps vaccine (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/science\/2020\/04\/why-coronavirus-vaccine-could-take-way-longer-than-a-year\/\">4 years<\/a>). There is no reason to believe a COVID-19\nvaccine will be ready in a year or two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you\nwilling to put your life on pause for the years it will take for a vaccine to\nbe developed? Years of no travelling, years of no eating out, years of no going\nto the movies or hitting the gym. No new relationships, no new experiences, no\nnew cherished memories. Can you truly wait that long before getting back to the\nthings you love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of us\ncan\u2019t. Eventually we\u2019ll all come to accept our new reality, and instead of\nliving in fear, we can learn to live in caution. A world with social\ndistancing, face masks, and with a virus we all need to work around. The sooner\nyou accept that, the sooner you can begin easing your distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, <strong>allow yourself to grow from this\nexperience. <\/strong>Become a better version of you for those who can\u2019t, for those\nwho may be less resilient or those who may be holding onto the pre-COVID world.\nIf you\u2019ve ever wanted to be a good person, if you\u2019ve ever wanted to make that\nserious change in the way you act and the way you treat others, <strong>now <\/strong>is the time to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because others\nneed you, and the world won\u2019t recover until we all find our way back on our\nfeet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By Lachlan\nBrown<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lachlan Brown\nis the founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/hackspirit.com\">Hack Spirit<\/a>, a blog on mindfulness and practical\npsychology. He loves writing practical articles that help others live a mindful\nand better life. He has a graduate degree in Psychology and he has spent the\nlast 6 years reading and studying all he can about human psychology and\npractical ways to hack our mindsets. If you want to get in touch with Lachlan,\nyou can follow him on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lachybe\">Twitter<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/lachlanb2\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Guest post by Lachlan Brown from hackspirit.com Waking up every day to the news of thousands of new infections and deaths, of second waves occurring in places where the virus was thought to have been defeated, of economies crashing because of forced lockdowns \u2013 it\u2019s not easy. For all of us around the world, this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[125,104,122,126,127],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Overcoming adversity in an uncertain world - Lifetick - Knowledge Centre<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/knowledge.lifetick.com\/?p=1071\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overcoming adversity in an uncertain world - Lifetick - Knowledge Centre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest post by Lachlan Brown from hackspirit.com Waking up every day to the news of thousands of new infections and deaths, of second waves occurring in places where the virus was thought to have been defeated, of economies crashing because of forced lockdowns \u2013 it\u2019s not easy. 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