Managing Change During this Pandemic

If we could live without experiencing change, many of us would be happy. That is expected with us human beings. By now, we all know that it is the only constant thing in life, and a person’s ability to adapt to change and bounce back matters.

 Change is so significant and can be overwhelming sometimes; it can feel like pain or grief. In the last six months, all of us have experienced immense change, change that none of us expected, change that has come with so much anxiety, panic, and stress. Despite all this, we have to keep hope alive because we do not know what change will bring in our lives. Change feels like unfamiliar pain, it makes you scared, I know you'd prefer going with the familiar pain rather than experience something new.

We have all been affected by COVID-19 in one way or another, some of us have lost jobs, their loved ones, time, missed on a promotion at work, postponed a wedding, vacation, and others even missed their graduations. All these can be so frustrating and stressful since we do not want to embrace the change that is already here with us; we are already in denial and find it hard to face the problems that we experience at the moment.  

This is just a defense mechanism that shields our instant action to loss. You are in denial that the pandemic is here with us and you are already experiencing its effects. The situation is not changing and this is likely to make you angry because you will have to deal with reality. You then start the blame game. You blame the government because you think it is not doing enough to control this pandemic, you blame your family members because you think they are not giving you enough support and you even blame your friends. 

All these occur when reality hits you and panic, anxiety and depression kicks in, you then realize how much you have lost. You become so depressed and do not know where to begin who to turn to. You are your savior at this point because everyone is dealing with their problems. It is up to you to accept your loss and make a decision to heal and move on.

Change brings with it anxiety, panic, and stress and I am sure we can all relate to this. It is natural, learn to neutralize what comes with the change and focus on the positive side of things. See change as a gateway to new opportunities in life and come up with new ways to handle the new events in your life. You might be angry but not necessarily have to show it; it can be inward and this where it hurts most. You feel frustrated because adjusting is not easy, you feel that the people around you are not doing enough to help you cope with this change. This will only happen when you accept that is the reality. Without acceptance, you will not become creative and start that online business that you have the potential to run because you are still holding to your past. Learn to live with the things that you cannot change.

Change brings with it great opportunities and for the first time, the whole world is experiencing change. This is something that we cannot avoid. Your routine, career, or family will not be an excuse. We have all experienced the change and it is our responsibility to take the positive things that have come with this pandemic and run with them. This is the time to work on 'me limited' because you have all the time.  Accept that things have changed, do not hide your pain away because you think someone's loss is greater than yours, give yourself time to embrace change and do not hide what you feel because eventually it will come out and this will only derail your process of healing and adapting to the new life. Adapt and adjust to the new way of living, the new normal. Try fresh coping mechanisms that will encourage you, try new routines, read more inspiring material, let go of old habits, take one day at a time and take new actions into spicing up your life once more only this time with positive energy.