Like most of us, I’m sure that you’re feeling the weight that goes along with the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s natural to be feeling anxious and stressed, which can lead us to feeling sad and worried. Know that you are not alone in this. Reach out to friends and family regularly, talking and sharing with others has been shown to help deal with stress and manage our emotions.
Make sure to focus on positive events that happen each day and share those with friends and loved ones. Research has shown that sharing positive events with others can help build a resilient mindset. Having a resilient mindset will help you “bounce back” from harder days and lead you to finding your best way to cope (Arewasikporn, Sturgeon & Zautra, 2018).
As you transition to working from home and learning online, try to make time for things you enjoy. Pick up an instrument, play a game or just make time for friends and family. Each day keep a journal of the enjoyable things you’ve done that day and share it with someone. Reach out to others and ask them to tell you about something positive that happened to them.
Remember that we’re all in this together. Reaching out, sharing, and connecting with each other socially while keeping our physical distance will help us stay resilient, positive, productive and persevere through these hard times.
Cody and Chelsey
How Can Emotions Benefit My Learning?
Reference
Arewasikporn, A., Sturgeon, J. A., & Zautra, A. J. (2019). Sharing positive experiences boosts resilient thinking: Everyday benefits of social connection and positive emotion in a community sample. American Journal of Community Psychology, 63(1–2), 110–121. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12279
