The United States has spent 5 months confronting the painful and tragic reality of the Coronavirus. Not only has it been tragic but, these past 5 months have been filled with uncomfortable adjustments – wearing masks in public, avoiding large gatherings, quarantining in your own home, Zooming your friends and family, washing and sanitizing your hands intentionally – the list goes on.
In addition to that, the Black Lives Matter Protests have exploded this year with much support from the public and select government officials. News channels, on television and social media, have reported violent incidents where police officers use deadly force to disarm protests despite protesters exercising peaceful methods of expressing their support for BLM. Despite the large gatherings, no COVID outbreaks have resulted from these protests since everyone (or mostly everyone) has been wearing their masks.
It feels as if the United States is being bombarded with a million things at once.
These events have been incredibly intense and uncomfortable – let’s take a moment to reflect on what we can do as members of society to contribute positively. While we feel powerless and small in comparison to what’s happening in the world currently, there are things we can do to take care of ourselves during such an intense time.
- CLEAN
- Sanitize your environment – the coronavirus is contagious through airborne contamination, making it easily contractible. Investing in a couple of sanitation tools like anti-bacterial wipes, masks, hand sanitizer, or gloves would immensely help and decrease your chance of contracting the coronavirus or bringing it home to your close ones. Washing your masks (the reusable ones) will help your health and hygiene as well!
- CHECK IN ON YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
- Being unable to see friends or family members takes a toll on those who are in close touch with their friends and family. However, utilizing your technological resources will help ease this. Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, Google Hangouts – all of these platforms help ease the discomfort of not being able to connect with your close ones. Don’t underestimate the relief that a 15 minute Skype call will have.
- WORKING OUT AT HOME
- Whether it’d be an intense session of P90X or a light jog around the neighborhood, physical activity has been proven to boost the amount of dopamine and serotonin in your system – and who can resist a little boost in their mood? Besides, blood circulation within the body helps with just feeling better.
- TRY A NEW RECIPE OR CRAFT
- Focusing your attention and energy into something productive or creative curbs the need to break quarantine and expose yourself to potential contamination with the coronavirus. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover a hobby you like!
- SIGN UP FOR DAILY UPDATES ABOUT THE CORONA-VIRUS
- It’s important to keep up with the coronavirus updates since it pertains to the well being of you and your close ones. Rising case numbers or outbreaks can be located in your county or area. Knowing where to stay away from is crucial to your health and your family’s health.
Surviving a pandemic isn’t easy – your mental health and stability will be challenged along with your everyday activities. Connecting with others will be something that’ll be limited so intentionally and purposefully reaching out to close ones to stay in contacts will be the bane of your existence. It’s a scary time right now and we can’t control each and every single thing that occurs in our world
However, what we can control is our environment, the amount of time we spend with our loved ones, and our mental health. There’s always things we can do to better our surroundings, which will make us feel a little better during a scary time.
Stay safe out there!