Lately, in this era of pandemic life, I’ve found myself a little less able to deal and cope with tons of change. To be honest, I’ve been a bit stressed out. And that is something you almost never see me express in my writings. Because, dear lifer, it’s so rare for me.
In fact, even when I am stressed out, I don't admit it to myself or to anyone else. I’ll just deny it.
So what has me experiencing moments of anxiety? It all comes down to me wanting a bunch of things solved, like:
- Unemployment rates
- Racial tensions
- Covid
- My team coming back to work
I want to solve these things, but I can’t. I (we) can work through them. That’s all. Ultimately, I have little to no control with so much of it.
And that leads me to one of the four things you can do to help deal and cope with change.
Number 1: Identify what you can't control.
For example, let’s take your job. There may be no way for you to control whether or not you’re:
- Going to keep or lose it
- Able to get it back
- In an industry that’s going to survive
What can you control?
- Looking at alternatives
- Finding the silver lining
- Getting excited about new beginnings
Number 2: Take care of yourself.
Maybe take a sabbatical from social media and the news? I did that. If you're looking for…
- Controversy
- People fighting
- Things to get you riled up
…Then be all means, please, continue absorbing all the socials you want. Personally, I had to limit my intake of these often negative outlets. I unplugged and got outside.
When I felt it was my duty to educate everybody to see what I was seeing in the world, I took a step a back. I realized, actually, that wasn’t my job.
Your only responsibility is to take care of yourself. So, create boundaries.
Number 3: Allow yourself to work though it.
You don't have to agree with anyone's position on anything — whether it's Covid or racism or divorce or any of these major topics. You can say, “You know, I'm thinking through it.”
Number 4: Remember that change is inevitable and change makes us better.
It sometimes doesn't feel like that when we're in the middle of it because it's really uncomfortable. But stop fighting change and pretending it's not going to happen. It always will.
So, embrace it, get excited about it, and know you can handle it. It's not going to kill you. In fact, it's going to make you stronger.
For much more on how to cope during turbulent times (and a ton of personal anecdotes), check out this episode of The Chalene Show:
And don’t forget to subscribe to TCS for (almost) daily episodes that are geared toward the betterment of your overall wellbeing!
