The Corona pandemic is teaching us many new skills, among them the ability to adapt and be flexible.
As we figured out the dance of homeschooling, working, and living together 24/7, we had to shift and change until we found a rhythm that worked for our family.
This constant shift is particularly tough for our son, Gil. He gets very upset when schedules change or TV time shifts. He struggles when the weather cancels his plan to go outside or when we don’t have the right ingredients to make his favorite meal.
Just like kids, we adults are also being confronted with uncertainty and change. Our ability to adapt and be flexible in the face of it determine our happiness and stress level.
This week, we introduced the book, My Day is Ruined, to help Gil manage the emotions and develop flexible thinking.
I thought these 3 tips from the book applied just as much to us adults as the kids and thought I’d share them with you.
Take a deep breath. Breath is at the heart of everything I talk about here at Believe in Balance and today is no different. Just one big breath in and one long breath out is enough to slow down the emotion and help you to think a bit more clearly.
Realize some things are out of your control. This is the hardest part without a doubt. We can’t control the rain and we certainly can’t control the fact that the pandemic is here. The best we can do is accept it.
Change your plan. By asking ourselves, “What can we control?”, we open our mind to think of different ways to achieve the same goal.
Have you had a tough time adapting to the changes demanded of us during this pandemic? What strategies do you use? I’d love to know. Leave me a comment below.
Photo by Dominika Roseclay from Pexels