Father Tony's (Nearly) Daily Physical Distancing Message and Meditation 7: Stay Calm and Carry On
We are all starting
to feel the effects of cabin fever and what Psychologist Lori Gottleib calls
“plague dread.”
Here are a couple
of her suggestions to stay balanced:
Practice the
BOTH/AND method: Don't say “It’s horrible and I just can't carry on.” Rather
say: “It’s horrible AND we can still relax, rest, and be calm.”
Do not check the
news every few minutes. A daily update from a reliable source is needed. But
bingeing on news is like stress eating--it’s bloating our minds with unhealthy
food that will make us feel sick.”
Keep your anxiety
harnessed to tasks and things you can accomplish, like washing hands
thoroughly and often, keeping 6 feet away from others, sanitizing surfaces,
and staying home. Then let go of the things over which you have no control.
Random, generalized anxiety, unchecked worrying, and feeding on and passing to
others terror-ridden rumors, makes our minds and hearts spin into all kinds of
frightening directions and robs us of the ability to be rational and
deliberate in our response to this crisis.
Keep calm and carry on.
Practice good physical distancing rules.
Know that you are beloved.
We will get through this.
Grace and Peace.
~ Fr. Tony+
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