Be Kind To Yourself

What have you been doing the last couple of weeks?  Feeling super positive and bettering yourself?

I’ve spoken to lots of people who feel a little rubbish after watching other people doing all kind of things in lockdown (fun things, productive things) because they’ve just about got through the days.

Equally I know there are people out there who are pushing on with projects and trying to make the best of the situation but are finding that even after having an ‘on paper great day’ they still feel a bit rubbish and don’t know why because they are doing everything ‘right’.

Honestly, I feel like a bit of a fraud at times right now asking how others are or trying to support them if they need it, when I myself don’t feel like I’ve got it all together right now.  I don’t know if that’s me being silly or something other people are feeling too.

Then I think we all feel a little like we maybe don’t have the right to complain.

Maybe you’ve had one of these thoughts:

Struggling to work from home?  Well at least I have a job. Furloughed and in limbo / bored?  At least you’re getting some income in?  Self employed and lost your income?  You have the opportunity to still earn or look for other income streams.  Struggling with home schooling?  You have family around you and can spend time with your kids. Student, no income, education in limbo? You will still be able to get your degree and maybe be doing lectures remotely.  We should grateful.  And yes of course we should.  In the grand scheme of things staying indoors to keep safe is probably one of the easiest sacrifices a country has ever asked of it’s citizens in times of emergency.  But all of these concerns above and many more are really valid, it’s ok for us to feel stress and upset over them.

I think right now there is a pressure on anyone who admits to struggling with what is going on in their life that they should look on the bright side as they will be better off than someone.  Of course that’s true.  It’s always true not just in this situation but in general, but what is different about this situation is that we don’t really have much control over it and it all happened so suddenly it’s a lot for any of us to process and deal with.

So I think it’s important right now to go easy on yourself.  If you manage to progress your business or learn a new skill be proud of that but also know that doesn’t mean you can’t have bad days.  If you get through it by being kind to yourself and doing what needs doing then that is ok too.  If some days are good and others are bad or if you are there for people even though you don’t have the answers all of that is alright.

It’s hard at the best of times to admit in public that you might be struggling with your mental health, even now there is much more coverage.  This situation has bought mental health much more to the forefront of peoples minds but also doesn’t make it any less difficult to say when you might need a bit of support.

I’ve written and podcasted a lot about how you can work on you fitness and nutrition during this time.  For some people perhaps I myself am making them feel bad if they really don’t want to think about that right now (you don’t have to by the way but if you want to and it helps why not).

There was a lot of talk just a month ago about being kind and we need to remember to be as kind to ourselves as we are to others right now and do what you need to do to make yourself feel ok.