Resolve to Win.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shifted and hit cultural trends in the most unimaginable way. With the advent of social distancing, quarantine, wearing masks, and sanitizing, this has definitely affected how we live.
The pandemic has redefined how we live life right from the office, business, schools and at home.
It has forced us to make decisions that we otherwise wouldn’t have made because of the pressure it has created. It has coerced us to quickly change how we did certain things.
Now, change is not always welcome, it faces a cloud of resistance. So how can we thrive in this unsettled, uncertain, topsy-turvy kind of situation?
As the adage goes, when life hands you lemons, make some lemonade.
Let’s make some lemonade, shall we?
If we really think about it, life has never been a straight line, curveballs are thrown at us and often our success to overcome them lies in our ability to navigate through them. A crisis, a problem, big or small whether at work, at home, in a relationship, etc can be overcome with the right approach.
1. Acknowledge
The best place to start in rising above the crisis is to speak strength to your mind by acknowledging the issue at hand.
Acknowledge that you are in a crisis and so is the rest of the world. Denying it, or fighting it won’t help. It will only exhaust you and your resources. It is a futile effort.
2. Identify the cans from the can’ts
After acknowledging the issue, identify the things that you can do and the things that you can’t do. Be realistic about your present circumstance but also face it with the faith that it will get better. Every step you take forward, no matter how small, count it as progress made.
3. Ask for help
Depending on the evaluation of your situation, you may need to ask for help. In some cultures, it is shameful to ask for help, it is an indicator that you are unable or that you have failed. In spite of the culture encouraging such behaviors, it doesn’t mean it’s right or healthy.
Sometimes the very tools we need to move forward will require us to make tough decisions that may not sit well with the system or that may be very uncomfortable to do.
The point is to do what you can to get going even if it means asking for help.
4. Be open to new possibilities
Again, just because it is new and unfamiliar doesn’t make it all adverse. You may find, that it is in this season of a global pandemic that your hidden dreams, abilities, talents, and gifts are brought to the surface. Do not be afraid to take them up instead, explore, harness, and develop them. Do all that you can to making them grow to their full potency.
5. Don’t act in haste
We tend to try to fix things long before we have properly assessed the situation and come up with constructive ways to deal with it. Haste doesn’t equal success, haste keeps you from recognizing the key issues.
6. Become your biggest cheerleader
Life, as it is, isn’t easy and the pandemic hasn’t made it any easier! There are countless reasons to throw in the towel and take the easy path of quitting but the biggest problem with quitting is that, you are paying a much higher price than trying and failing from the trial.
To overcome the tendency to give up encourage yourself and have faith in yourself. Keep your self-talk positive. Maintain your mental, emotional, and spiritual tank at healthy levels. Seek to fill them and not drain them.
This list clearly is not exhaustive, and it wasn’t meant to be, however, it is a place to start. Keep adding to the things e.g. reading positive articles and books that will build up your stamina to press on against the current.
This pandemic has produced negative effects but there is always a silver lining beneath every dark cloud.