- Give THANKS! Give thanks: for family, friends, neighbors, teachers, professors, all health care providers, for how you live and where. As Albert Schweitzer wrote, “That for which we give thanks blesses us ever the more when we give thanks.”
- Find JOY in SMALL things. Get some sun, observe nature, watch a child play. Joy is a choice, the product of being aligned with our keenest interests/passions/hobbies/talents.
- Consider doing SOMETHING CREATIVE! Creativity is our birthright. We were born to play! There are as many forms of creativity as there are molecules so DIVE into just one! Each of us is an artist. Break from others’ creativity long enough to give birth to your OWN! Creativity is the ultimate high and bequeaths joy.
- Dedicate yourself to REALITY! As Dr. M. Scott Peck wrote in The Road Less Traveled, “Mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs.” We all have problems in life that are attached to emotional pain, he writes, some as painful as or more excruciating than the worst physical agony. But when we are reality dedicating and can admit life is difficult, he continues, it becomes a little less so.
- “Don’t run FROM your fear, run TO it!” That’s what the late Reverend Doctor John J. McNeill expressed in a talk. He wasn’t referring to recklessness but staring down fear courageously! Heed author Susan Jeffers’ dictum, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway! So especially comply with precautions from Doctors and other Medical Experts regarding COVID-19. Put this virus in its rightful place: be realistic in all your preparations; refrain from predicting doom and gloom; grieve any losses; seek support; and distract yourself healthily from this crisis. Balance is key to coping.
- Recognize that COVID-19 has interrupted EVERYONE’S life! Everybody is suffering. Substitute concern for worry, find someone to whom you can entrust your feelings, and be compassionate. None of us know what the other is going through.
- Do something KIND for someone, maybe anonymously. Spending money is not required! Smile, lend a book or DVD, play with a child, share a dessert, listen to what the elderly say their lives were like growing up. Arrange playing board games. Look for kindness lists on the internet.
- Dive into something funny! Did you know that Abbott and Costello’s skit, “Who’s On First?” is acknowledged to be the best comedy routine of all time? Watch any TV show of Carol Burnett, the last comedian to perform in front of a live audience. Jackie Gleason’s The Honeymooners is another gem. Uncover some humor– it abounds in myriad ways.
- Enjoy some solitude. Now that we are confined and away from typical gatherings, find a place where you can get in some quiet time. Negotiate an hour or two a day of quiet with your family, roommate, spouse/partner. When unplugged from the news cycle and “busyness”, solitude helps us regroup, prioritize, and sooth. Treasure it.
- In a world that often presents absurdity, establish what is meaningful and purposeful for you. Victor Frankl, a survivor of a horrific concentration camp with just three others, explained each had a meaning and purpose outside the camp. Therefore, have a meaning and purpose that transcends not going to work, school, parks, watching sports, or attending concerts. According to the late Richard Bolles, one way to derive meaning and purpose is to hone in on talents you most enjoy using. Consider reading Victor Frankl’s, Man’s Search For Meaning. If it’s a classic it’s because it speaks in every era.
From time to time ponder diving into the one or ones you most could most benefit from.
May be distributed without permission if proper attribution is given.
Greg Rossi is a Licensed Therapist in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor and is a Consultant to The Marriage and Family Resource Center n Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Joan A. Feinstein is a Psychologist and Attorney Pennsylvania and New Jersey and is the Director of The Marriage and Family Resource Center and is an attorney with the Lento Law Group, P.C. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania