The Little Blue Book

For most of us, isolation and disconnection from loved ones and friends can pose problems for our mental health and wellbeing. That’s because humans are social animals – as a rule, we thrive ‘among the tribe’. This period of social and economic disruption, and the uncertainty swirling around it, is going to pressure-test all of us. what can we find from this? There will be positives there if we look for them. It is, for instance, an opportunity of enforced reflection; an extended journey of discovery into the important things in our lives. Most of us work too hard, that’s simply fact. 1 You too have likely been working too hard and putting in longer hours than is healthy. And your relationships – at home, with friends, with your wider family – have likely been compromised or even damaged by the hours you’ve worked. “Anyone else enjoying this social distancing? My life’s been so damn busy it kinda feels nice to pause and recalibrate. I think when this is all over, I’ll make sure to have more days off where I just hang around my house with my family.” (A post from a friend on Facebook.) And perhaps when not working you haven’t fully relaxed, not fully. When was the last time you listened to “the whole story” one of the children wanted to tell you? And how often has work occupied your thinking while your kids buzzed around, trying to catch those moments when you could give them your full attention. Yes, those of us caught on the treadmill, we’ve missed a lot of our children’s lives. But the toddler becomes the ‘teen’ before we know it; then becomes the adult and we wonder where the years went. How many of us will also wonder why we don’t know them better, and why we didn’t spend more time just “being with them”, sharing their stories, listening to them, getting insights into their world (and understanding their wishes and joys and aspirations, as well as their uncertainties and fears). We will always wish we’d spent more time with them. Always wish we’d been more a part of their lives. “I wish I’d spent more time at work” – there are few of us that would choose that as an epitaph. So, now’s your chance. Perhaps the greatest good that can come from the period of isolation from outside the home, will be the opportunity for reconnection inside the home – to our families, reconnection to their lives, and reconnection with our own. Sometimes it’s a matter of raising the eyes to find meaning in what’s happening around us; looking further downfield gives a better view of the bigger picture. If you are wondering how you will cope with the next six months, look forward by looking back. We can easily scope back six or 12 months – the days passed so quickly, “almost like it was yesterday”. LOOKING FOR THE GOOD? 12 Towards Resilience - The Power of Positivity