Good day everyone. Yesterday, here in Canada, we just had our Thanksgiving Day weekend. It’s a useful thing to have a weekend or day dedicated to nothing but finding reasons to give thanks. And that practice takes on a whole new value during a pandemic.
As the COVID crisis plays out, many of us have had to make enormous adjustments to our lives. Many people have, or are, facing very serious health or financial challenges that could continue for years, or even alter the course of the rest of our lives.
These extremes mean that many (if not most) people around the world will be facing a much more difficult life during the coming period. But those challenges do not necessarily mean that we have to feel worse about ourselves or our lives.
If our ability to be thankful increases more than our assessment of what’s been lost, we can actually end up okay. We can even end up better off. Regardless of what our physical or financial health does, we are best to see periods of upheaval as opportunities.
As many readers know, I have been caring for my parents for a little over 10 years now. As they have aged that care has ramped up. In addition, when the pandemic started all of their daycare options were shut down. This has made life for my parents very limited, and it has made their care into essentially a full time role for me.
In response to these changes, and the fact that it appears our modified way of life will last at least one more year, many of us are rethinking how our lives are structured. We need new plans for raising children, caring for others, and most of us have seen major job and/or financial disruptions.
In essence, humanity is going through a global apocalypse. Our societies are reinventing various forms of work and new social structures. We are also recognizing under-served groups of people. But most importantly, we are all reassessing our values. We are all changing how we see life, ourselves, and each other.
All of this is resulting in changes in the ways people live and work and interact, and I too am making changes to suit our new reality. To that end, I will be taking this week off to set up some new projects, although I will continue to do some limited facebook and twitter posts.
Most people doing any form of psychological care have noticed that far more people are struggling. But, due to financial fears, far fewer people are reaching out for professional help. And, under the current circumstances, we also can’t connect with our friends in the way we normally. All of this means that being active about our mental health is more important than ever.
In consideration of all of those things, I will continue to be available for sessions. But in addition to those, I am also working on some plans to try to attend to the needs of those who do not have the option of working directly with me.
Whether it’s more Youtube work, a podcast, a series of blog posts, or anything else, if you have any other suggestions for what you would like to see me do, please feel free to email me at scottis@relaxandsucceed.com. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you all, here, in about a week. Until then, all the best.
peace, s
A serious childhood brain injury lead Scott to spend his entire life meditating on the concepts of thought, consciousness, reality and identity. It made others as strange to him as he was to them. When he realized people were confused by their own over-thinking, Scott began teaching others to understand reality. He is currently CBC Radio Active’s Wellness Columnist, as well as a writer, speaker and mindfulness instructor based in Edmonton, AB where he still finds it strange to write about himself in the third person.