Mindset during Times of Crisis

The Importance of Our Mindset during Times of Crisis

I want to reflect on our mindset and what happens when we get bombarded with information and find ourselves in a situation we cannot control. This probably happens to many of us most every day even without a pandemic. The way we normally deal with the feeling of being overwhelmed is with an enormous stress response. So what to do when we feel we have had enough stress and have maxed out our hard drive, our brain? How can we move from stress to strength when it comes to our mindset?

Stuck in a Loop

I hear a lot of people talking about all the things they cannot do anymore due to Covid-19. This in turn leads to a perfect set up for the brain to get stuck in a loop that can be hard to get out of. So how do we balance the fact that we are living in a situation that none of us have been through before. Unless you are old enough to have lived a hundred years ago and survived the Spanish flue we don’t really know what to expect and what it does to our mental health.

Fear of the unknown

We fear what we don’t know, that is how the brain is wired and it is a perfect set up to protect us. But when the fear goes on for days and months without being resolved, it puts us in a heightened state of being anxious. If we stay in this state for a long time it starts to affect our mind as well as the rest of the body and we react by either putting up a fight against it, try to escape or freeze up and do nothing. These are the three modalities we have and they serve us well under normal circumstances.

What to Do?

I don’t believe in pushing thoughts and feelings away as they will always surface later on and often come back with an accumulated force. By acknowledge them and their right to show up we can come to an acceptance of the feelings and for the situation that has caused them. Acceptance in this case means simply that you see things for what they are. No more and no less. We have a right to feel the way we do but sometimes it is wise to question how we act upon those feelings. The way we interpret our thoughts and subsequently act upon them vary depending on how we have dealt with them in the past.

What You Can Do

The best thing you can do is to be kinder to yourself and more accepting of the fact that it is an unusual situation you are going through. Also know that it will change even if we don’t know when. Living with the unknown is something we do every day without thinking too much about it. It is only when the unknown becomes a threat that we become aware of the things we cannot control.

In these circumstances the best way is to take control over the small things in life, the ones that are within your reach of control. It helps to bring back a sense of structure to your life and it affects your mindset in a healthier way. Also start to look at all the things you can do, this will completely change your mindset. Even write it down so you can see clearly that you have many options.

This is a good time to reflect on our life, what we want to do, how we want to live and how we can support each other. This takes the focus off you when you start to see that you can be of help to someone else. Pick up the phone, talk to your neighbor, and help out with what you can. Most of the time it helps just to know that someone care and sees us.

Summary

1. All feelings are ok to feel
2. Acknowledge and accept them
3. Be kinder to yourself
4. Take control of small things in your life
5. Be aware of the loop of thoughts that leads you nowhere
6. Look at what you can do instead of what you cannot do
7. Reach out to help someone by beeing there

I believe that we will come out of this pandemic much stronger and with a new set of eyes to view our lives and the world we live in. My hope is that it will bring us closer and to see that we are all closely connected and what happens to one of us, happens to all of us. I also hope that we will treat the earth with respect and that includes all its’ inhabitants and animals.

These are my reflections of the week, I would love to hear yours.

Face Your Fears and Live Your Purpose

Fia Hobbs

Stress to Strength