Dealing With he Anxiety Of Moving Forward, At a Safe Distance...
COVID-19 changed the way humans do business. Disruption of the status quo has altered everyone’s routine and swayed the mindset between space and physical distance. Chasing the dream morphed into running towards reassurance of going outside again. The main goal now is to stay healthy and protect the ones around you. How does one get out of the mindframe of survival, and back into moving forward in their aspirations. Where can they find the motivation to live for more than just what's “essential.” How do we deal with this new approach to life?
People wear protective face masks in Central Park during the coronavirus pandemic on May 2, 2020 in New York City.
Starting from square one
Accepting that nothing will be the same starts the journey over; you are allowed to go back to the first square in life. Everything up to this point has been gradual and in levels; accomplishing each milestone turned into a step to reaching the next goal. This viral pandemic knocked a lot of moving parts around and diminished any secure footing we assumed we had. Admitting that there is regression or a pause in the life story, unblocks the chamber to heal from the mental slip that happened, as the rug was pulled from under life as we knew it.
A man wearing a mask tries to catch a taxi at Times Square amid the Covid-19 pandemic on April 30, 2020 in New York City. (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)
The Dream changed
After any traumatizing cause, there is an equally traumatizing affect. People do not operate the same as they did before COVID-19. The most valuable thing in the world is time, but now distance is seen in a whole new light. What you once thought was most important is categorized as non-essential. In some cases the dream or ultimate goal in our careers have changed. Some of us were working dead-end jobs, thinking the gruff and struggle endured will eventually catapult us into the level of success.
There was blanket security obtained with the consistency of a paycheck and health benefits. However in the midst of a pandemic, many have felt the reality that nothing is truly safe. The value of what you do with your life is seen as the precious and delicate gift that it is. Along with standing on square one, realizing that you want different things in your life, helps build a new foundation for hope.
Zohara Mediterranean Kitchen in West Hartford, Conn., on May 20.Credit...Jessica Hill for The New York Times
You are still here
Urgency is not on the agenda towards recovery. All government officials with the jurisdiction to open or close the economy shown there is power in patience and being present. With ample amount of time to think about what’s next, other branches of thought start to reach for an explanation, why do we do anything at all? Activities, games, and shows were labeled non-essential and came to a halt. Materialistic desires are barely breathing through the suffocation of no human contact. If it was non-essential, what was the actual point. It melts down to how it makes you feel in the present moment, we continue to move forward because we are still here. There is nothing left for us to do than to move forward into a new world. Keep moving forward no matter where you are, or how far you may have fell.
cover image via Stanford Social Innovation
