To our community that’s grown here…given the current events, it’s eating away at me thinking about how many of you out there may struggle w the changes in routines that are being forced upon us.
Athletes’ seasons are being canceled (& not just pros – youth leagues all the way on up, who have worked for a full season, even full careers, to get to this point, that just now abruptly come to a halt), part & full-time workers not working normal hours or having any work at all, schools closing & students/parents being left to figure out what to do now – w the time, w the learning being missed, etc.
Unfortunately, many will realize that WORK, school & even pro sports (also mostly all canceled) can act as our daily distraction from other “stuff” we haven’t dealt w/. When there’s downtime, & the distractions above are taken away, overnight, there’s: 1) loss of purpose, & 2) more time to obsess over what we’re currently fearing about the news, &/or what bothers us from our pasts that start to now surface. So… I learned this from having to climb out of “my hole”…routine is SO impt. Please if you can, don’t lay arnd & just “Netflix & Chill” w the downtime.
Some possible suggestions – schedule time for: going to the gym/running outside, calling friends/fam you haven’t caught up w in a while, reading the self help book you’ve been wanting to get to, & literally LIST these out like you would your work day. Seems trivial, but having a list of things “to do” keeps you on a routine.
The 3 most important things I can share: 1) don’t lay & keep the cycle of “what if” stress going w more free time – that cycle has to be broken if you don’t want to fall into an anxiety vortex, 2) use the extra time to “unpack your bags” & address things you usually put off; WORK on yourself (yoga, meditation, breathing practices, journaling, openly talking about “stuff” that’s been weighing on your mind), & 3) this is just a time PERIOD. Life will return to “normal.” You’ll find purpose/employment/traditional routine, once again. This isn’t permanent.
