With the pandemic continuing in a very serious fashion, we are all faced with the challenge of how to keep ourselves and those we care about feeling OK.
One of the things I have learnt in previous jobs and life situations, as well as this one, is that it is generally good to be able to perform in a way that plays to one’s strengths. In other words, working and living in ways that utilise our own aptitudes and abilities. This can tend to make us feel more positive about life and have more of a good impact on those we are trying to help.
So, if the above is correct, how might this principle be applied to the current situation where we have all been asked to stay at home and away from other people as much as possible? Are there still ways of helping ourselves and others to feel better?
Finding a new subdivision within something that one likes or is good at is perhaps one possibility. If you like cooking, why not take advantage of all the time spent at home to prepare some new dishes? If you like music, why not try listening to a genre you haven’t had much experience of before? If you like reading, why not try a style you might not have read much of, perhaps like flash fiction or poetry. If you like photography, why not find creative ways of taking pictures of your home environment?
I find that if I expand on a strong interest like this, it can broaden my horizons and make me feel better in ways that are otherwise restricted by having to stay at home.
Sharing your knowledge, interests and expertise with others can be another way of feeling better, whether this relates to professional or personal areas of your life. This can be a good method of making the most of and expanding on what you already know, either to help others, promote yourself, network with others or all 3. The following articles describe some possible ways of doing this. Many of the ideas, such as blogging, or podcasting take place online so staying at home won’t affect them:-
https://www.valuablecontent.co.uk/blog/10-ways-to-share-your-expertise
In the course of doing any of the above, you could get some ideas about how you might potentially like your life to be in the future, building on and taking forward where you are now. In my experience, positive, forward thinking thoughts like these can often be a good way of feeling more optimistic and better overall.