Every time you turn on your television or check your social media, coronavirus news is everywhere. Schools are closed, events are canceled, restaurants have switched to delivery and carry-out service only, and grocery shelves are empty. It is hard not to let the drama and fear of the unknown overtake your life.
Here are ten ways to move away from the COVID-19 FEAR and DRAMA:
1) Disconnect and Reconnect. Turn off the television and switch to Netflix or another streaming service for at-home entertainment. Turn off your social media alerts and check your feeds once a day or not at all if your timeline is full of coronavirus posts. Turn off your “breaking” news apps. Choose a trusted resource and check it once a day or every other day for updates.
If you have previously disconnected from what you consider your source, higher power, God or whatever you personally call it, NOW is a really good time to reconnect. Use whatever tools work for you to do so. Meditate, talk to God, exercise, and listen to uplifting music or messages, Pray, create a mantra. Walk in faith and hope in a way you know you are connected to your source/God. Keep hope. Believe all is really well and this too shall pass.
2) Control what you can and let go of what you can’t. You certainly can’t control others and right now you can’t control the decisions our government is making. You CAN control how you feel. You can also control what you do in the privacy of your own home which you will be spending more time in. So, sing out loud and off key, and dance like you’ve never danced before, talk to your pets, and eat the extra cookie. Take a really long shower or bath. Take a nap on your couch. Read the book you keep meaning to read, play games with your kids that require putting phones and tablets down, watch funny shows and movies. The list can go on and on, get creative. Keep it upbeat and positive and feel the positivity grow. Like attracts like, it’s the law of attraction.
3) Live a conscious life. “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious behavior.” wrote Henry David Thoreau. As you go through your day, pay attention. Be awake and aware starting with what you are eating. Diets don’t work but living a conscious life does. Food provides nutrients you need to keep your immune system up. Pay attention to what you drink. Make water your #1 choice of beverage. Pay attention to how you move or exercise. Move your body every day. Pay attention to how you sleep or rest. Go to bed when you’re tired. Take a nap if you need it. Get some sunshine every day. If you can’t get out in the sun, then use a sunlamp or supplement with vitamin D. Pay attention to whether or not you are breathing. Yep, this is something we often forget to do (especially when we are feeling fearful), instead we hold our breath without realizing it – and then we wonder why we have a headache.
4) Power vs Force. Don’t fight against what is out of your control. The government is deciding things for us right now and fighting against it will not benefit you. Their intentions are good in trying to “flatten the curve”. At this time our health care facilities need the time to restock so, those who need medical care can get the best care possible. With the panic during the last few weeks they are running out of supplies. Make the necessary adjustments to your schedule – It will likely take a week or two to adjust to your new normal. You or your spouse may now be working from home or staying home with your children because the schools have been closed. Create your new routine as soon as possible to lower anxiety. You still have power in your life. Your personal space is your personal space. Do what you want there.
Often athletes who win a race will tell you they imagined the race before they ran it and saw themselves winning. This is an example of power versus force. They didn’t only work super hard physically during the race to win. They imagined it first, every detail and saw themselves winning. Often the athlete will tell you the race felt effortless. Use your power and imagine and focus on how this crisis in our world will “go away” and life will get back to normal. Go away, could mean answers will be found and the crisis will be under control and the coronavirus is no longer a threat or information is revealed that lets us all know that we can all be well and safe Right Now.
Personally, I believe I am safe because I feel connected to my Source, I am taking care of myself, I love myself and feel good, and nothing bad (illness) can live in a healthy/alkaline environment. Your feelings and emotions, if negative, can pollute your environment faster than a greasy hamburger and the effects will last much longer. The greasy hamburger is usually out of your system within 48 hours, but your thoughts and feelings are there 24/7. It’s your responsibility to get yourself in a good feeling place as often as possible, especially right now. It is possible to do even with our current circumstances. You might need to reach back a couple weeks or month to feel how you felt then about things but that’s okay. If you can just remember how you felt when you felt good, then replay it in your head and feel it now – this will allow more of it to show up right here, right now for you.
5) Allow others to have their opinion/feelings. This is not the time to try to persuade or change someone’s mind. Let it be. You can listen if you want and acknowledge and allow their feelings. You can also walk away. You could simply say, “Thank you for sharing.” or “That’s interesting.” or some combination of the two to keep the peace. This is a great tool all the time. There is no need to argue with someone especially if they have strong opinions that you do not share. You can be empathetic without getting sucked into opinions you do not agree with.
Anticipate the reactions of your family members. Some people in your family are likely to think everyone is overreacting and others will be convinced coronavirus germs are everywhere outside your home.
6) WTF?!! Hang on, my WTF means something different. What The For?!! If everything happens for me and nothing happens to me then What The For?!! What is this for, how is it FOR me? The answers may not be obvious this red-hot minute, but I assure you, there is a For and you will know what it is someday. For now, you might have some insights as to what some For’s are in this moment. Maybe you take better care of yourself and get healthier overall. Maybe you needed a break, time to step back and take a look at your life and what direction you were heading. Maybe this will give you time to take care of personal or family things that you haven’t had or taken the time for. Maybe you’ll spend time with your family and reconnect. Maybe you can slow down. Maybe you’ll realize what really matters most to you in your life. Maybe you’ll take a spiritual journey and grow as a person like never before. Maybe you’ll choose a different path for the rest of your life. Maybe your whole life will change for the better.
7) Stay present and Focused and in the Moment. This means if you are exercising, focus on your exercise, if you are working, focus on your work, if you are doing the dishes, focus on doing the dishes. For example, if you are exercising, how does your body feel (?), focus on your breathing. Don’t be thinking about the coronavirus, your bills or what to do for dinner or anything else other than your exercise. This one step has been reported to be the most important step people have incorporated in their day to day, moment to moment lives in times of crisis. It has been a steppingstone to living easier and more confidently. Feeling confident probably sounds good right about now. It sounds simple and it is, with great impact.
8) Pay attention to how you’re feeling. If you aren’t feeling good, then you need to go back and think about what you’ve been thinking and change those thoughts. Gandhi said, “A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks, He Becomes.” Are your thoughts contributing to a solution or contributing to the problem, which is the coronavirus right now? Doctors and scientists’ thoughts are solution focused right now so; they are vibrationally aligned to finding solutions. According to Dr. Bruce Lipton, in his latest newsletter as of March 20, 2020, “It is a scientific fact that positive and negative thinking have a profound effect on the function of the immune system. Positive consciousness is responsible for the Placebo effect, wherein the mind can heal almost any disease, while stress and negative thinking create the Nocebo effect, which can cause almost any disease.”
There are many ways to quickly shift your thoughts from low vibrating thoughts to higher vibrating thoughts. I will give one example here that works no matter how busy or distracted by the coronavirus you are. Find an anchoring thought. An anchoring thought is a thought that always makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over. You could think about a pet, a place you have visited and loved, the birth of your child. Just pick a thought and use it whenever you feel yourself spiraling down and away from Love. Your anchoring thought should bring up a purely joyful feeling when you think about it. This anchoring thought then can be used as a quick tool to redirect you towards love, especially when you’re in a tight spot. Lots of distractions including the coronavirus, work, family stresses, etcetera… lead you to feel negative emotions. Focus on your anchoring thought—even if only for a moment. You will return to a better feeling place. The anchoring thought results in a powerful positive response turning you in the right direction in an instant. An anchoring thought is like carrying a magic bullet with you all the time, wherever you are. Similar to carrying a gratitude stone or coin in your pocket, the anchoring thought just needs to be pulled out to remind you of all for which you are grateful.
9) Focus on all you appreciate. When you realize your thoughts have been hanging around closer to fear, another thing you can do is to focus on all that you are in appreciation of in your life. This should help you turn your thoughts around pretty quickly too. There is always something to be in appreciation of even if you think there isn’t. For example, the breath you just took. “Aware and awake equals clarity/Clarity equals power/Power equals movement/Movement equals change/Life is movement and change.” If we all were appreciating, we could change what is happening in the world right now very quickly. We are incredibly powerful beings. Our thoughts are like silent prayers. Now is the time to be consciously aware of what you are thinking.
10) Love yourself first. The most important thing to do in order to move quickly from living in a space of fear to living in a space of love is to love you first. You are number one and if you don’t love yourself first you can’t love anyone else. “I do not trust people who don’t love themselves and yet tell me, “I love you.” There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”—Maya Angelou
Treat yourself well and Enjoy every little part of your life right now. Laugh as often as possible. Play games with your family. The more you can stay in a happy place and enjoy every little part of your life, maybe something as basic as your shower, which you are often rushing through or petting your pet and talking with your family, you will be healthy and well without doing anything else. Illness cannot manifest in a healthy environment. “Love builds up the broken wall and straightens the crooked path. Love keeps the stars in the firmament and imposes rhythm on the ocean tides. Each of us is created of it and I suspect each of us was created for it.” – Maya Angelou
Additional Resources:
My book, The Journey from Fear to Love Is Shorter than You Think, is full of tips and exercises designed to help you, or others, move away from fear.
My book, 10 Ways to Eliminate DRAMA from Your Life: Easy Ways to Be More Productive and Successful in Your Work and in Your Life! can help you decrease the stress you and your family may be feeling.
Susan D. Wedgewood-Goudy, MSW, is the author of The Journey from Fear to Love Is Shorter Than You Think; and 10 Ways to Eliminate Drama from Your Life: Easy Ways to Be More Productive and Successful in Your Life!; certified in Neuro-Physical Reprogramming, B.E.S.T. (Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique), and Psych-K.
