This Too Shall Pass
December 28, 2020
Before 2020 comes to a close, and we say good riddance to a year filled with so much collective pain, sadness, and loss, I encourage you to take time over the next few days to reflect upon your year. Think about your time at home during quarantine, what you learned about yourself over the past nine months, and how you navigated different paths for managing personal and professional responsibilities.
We all face challenges throughout our lives (i.e., loss, heartbreak, illness, career, financial), but we don't all experience them simultaneously – that is, until now. Together, as we live through this pandemic, you are also independently responding to it. When life changed in March, your ability to maintain (or not) an open mindset influenced your emotional capacity and flexibility needed to get through each day, week, and month.
As you reflect upon a year filled with challenges, remember that each one comes with the opportunity for personal growth. There are positives to be acknowledged, and while you may have to look hard to see them, they're there. Amid 2020's dark clouds, keep looking for your silver linings.
So please, before the clock strikes midnight and 2021 arrives, take some time to reflect upon your year and how you've been personally and professionally impacted. Look for your silver linings as you think about the following:
1. Gratitude: Be thankful for the doctors and nurses who have been working tirelessly to help you, your family, and friends get healthy. And to those who held the hands of others during their final moments. Acknowledge the commitment of scientists and their endless hours for creating vaccines. Appreciate your kids' teachers who are doing their best to manage their families while educating yours. Be grateful to the cashiers at the grocery stores, delivery drivers, and anyone who has helped you maintain some sense of normalcy during these not so ordinary days.
2. Lessons: Think about what you've learned about yourself - how you have emotionally and strategically found your way through the unchartered waters imposed upon you by this pandemic. Did you find an inner strength that refused to give-in when things were overwhelming? Do you have more of a capacity than you realized to manage multiple challenges at once? Are you more empathetic to friends, family, colleagues, strangers? Did you figure out that tending to your physical and emotional health is necessary, not selfish?
3. Connection: We are social beings, and not even a global pandemic can hold us back from wanting to be in contact with others. Think about all of your phone calls, texts, video calls, socially distanced walks, and small gatherings. Know which relationships are most meaningful to you and perhaps more significant and valuable than you previously realized (and those that may not be). Don't let them fade away when the pandemic is in our past and start thinking now about how you'll maintain these connections later.
4. Adapting: You've had no choice but to adapt. Whether your job temporarily relocated to your home or you're still going to your place of employment, your workdays have changed. If you have young kids, you had to figure out childcare and help them attend classes online while you're also working. There has also been a lot of togetherness, and hopefully, this time has been enjoyable. Either way, this has been an adjustment. You've adapted how you attend work meetings and conferences; celebrate birthdays, holidays, and milestone events; and grocery and holiday shopping. Maybe you also adapted to a slower pace now that your calendar has fewer non-work activities scheduled?
5. Mental Health: Your mental health is essential, and please do not avoid or minimize the impact that the past nine months have had on your ability to manage stress, anxiety, and depression. The compounded effect of this pandemic is real and if you need professional support to help you through these challenging times, get it! Don't try and push through these emotions - ask for and accept the help that's available for you!
6. Changes: Think about how your life has changed since March. What are you doing now that you have never done before? What did you stop doing? Do you want to reintroduce or continue any of these things when this is all behind us? Think about these decisions now and be ready to act upon them when our new-normal post-pandemic life arrives.
Even though we have more obstacles to face as we ring in the new year, it's with hope and optimism, combined with a vaccine, that will soon get us to the other side of this pandemic. I wish you a 2021 filled with mask-less smiles and laughter, health and happiness, hugs, and in-person celebrations.
This too shall pass.