Radical acceptance

I hope you are doing well and hanging in there during the COVID-19 crisis. I came across this woman’s facebook post today and she was obviously suffering and said that she was stressed out for having to make her children wear masks to go outside and their schools are closed. She understands that we have to all practice social distancing, but what are the long term consequences of this whole situation on children’s mental health. Not just children but adults are suffering too.

I can totally understand that and some days are more difficult than others. I do ruminate about meeting up with friends at our favorite restaurant, but ultimately is there anything we can do to actually change this? The answer is no. I am sure that scientists are working hard to develop Covid-19 vaccine as this is not going anywhere anytime soon. This is our new reality.

We can all use this concept of radical acceptance. Nobody wants to be in this situation because it’s lonely, inconvenient and painful. Millions of people have lost their jobs since then and my own career outlook isn’t looking too bright at the moment. But what would happen if I continue to reject the reality and to continue to harbor resentment. It is not healthy because when you are stressed out and angry, toxic hormones are released into your body and it’s a vicious cycle.

At that point, we will be suffering emotionally.

So the best thing that I can do right now is to radically accept the things that I have no control over and focus on the things that I can have control over.

I can’t influence how fast the vaccine would be made available to the public, but I can try to eat healthy, do light exercises and stay positive each day. It is not going to be easy but these are the things that I can actually do to help myself. Also, this is a good time to remember that nothing is permanent. This is the time to really practice your resilience, patience and perseverance.

We all learn from adversity. How often do we really experience anything like this? Hopefully never! Maybe you can journal what goes through your mind each day and chronicle your life. This is one of the craziest times and we will have the story to tell to our children, family and all of us come out of this pandemic crisis stronger, more resilient and resourceful. That’s how I look at it.

of course there are lots of negative thoughts that pop up in my brain. But it is up to me to make my day a little easier for myself. Because we still have to keep on going. This is taking a little longer than expected but hopefully this will be resolved by around this time next year.

Definitely we have to process a lot of losses because of the COVID-19. I wonder if things are ever going back to the “normal”..whatever that means. It’s never going to be the same. Many of us will always be a little more cautious because of the novel virus and remember how vulnerable we felt this entire time. But we will get through this, and try to practice radical acceptance to make your life a little easier. Once you accept the reality for what it is without judgment, then there are things that you can do.

And acceptance doesn’t mean you need to approve or agree with the situation. Simply acknowledge that our lives have been changed forever due to COVID-19, but we will take one day at a time and we will get through this. The more we reject this situation, the worse we feel inside. Resentment can turn into hate and at that point, we will be suffering emotionally. There is no need to do that..just yet.

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