Guide To Stay Positive in COVID
9 Things to do to stay positive during Covid-19
How to stay positive during Covid-19?
It is very hard to stay positive when everything around you is going south. In the case of a pandemic, it is even worse. But, now more than ever it is important to stay positive for your mental health. We need to connect and constantly check with ourselves, our feeling our mental health to stay positive in the current times of fear, uncertainty, loneliness, negative news, grief, social distancing, potential risk of loss of employment, etc.
Here I am sharing some of the tips that have worked for me in getting through this situation. I hope they could be useful to you too.
1. Find happiness in small things
We have become so busy over the years that only big things made us happy. For example: graduating, buying a car, getting married, and other life-changing events. But we tend to forget the role of little things that happen all day around us. We tend to miss happiness in small things that happen every day all around us. We won’t have big events every day happening in our life, so we need to cherish small things.
Beautiful sunset, kids laughing, good rain, watching a bird fly, all these small things make me happy.
We all should practice finding happiness in small things. This simple thought process has really helped me to stay positive in this difficult time of COVID.
2. Be Grateful
One of the keys to be happy regardless of the situation you are in is to be grateful. Even though we don't notice we can be grateful for tons of small things, whether it is food on the table, a good bath, a good book, a good friend, and many more. Make a habit to jot down things you are grateful for when you start your day. You will be surprised how much this helps to stay positive when you are surrounded by negative things.
3. Spend time with your hobbies
We all have some or other hobbies that we love to spend time with. We get so much lost in our day to day routine that we tend to find no time for our hobby that actually make us happy. My hobby is cooking. It is like meditation for me, I feel relaxed and forget everything when I am cooking. During lockdown in order to stay safe, we completely stopped ordering food from outside. This situation felicitated to get back to my hobby of cooking. As a result, I am excited and happy every day to cook the next thing.
4. Try new things
With social distancing and fear of catching COVID, I literally stopped going out of my house for any reason what so ever. This resulted in me feeling lonely and frustrated. As a result, I tried to find new things to keep myself occupied. Hence I started things like blogging, baking, gardening. Not sure I made enough success on any of those fronts. But one thing I can say they got my mind off from all the negativity for that time and I definitely learned new things.
The human mind will always process something, it is up to us to feed it good/positive things to stay positive.
5. Spend time with your family and loved ones
Thanks to technology, it is easier more than ever to stay connected with loved ones. I even celebrated my birthday with family over video conference which made all the difference. Family and friends have really played a crucial role to keep me positive during this difficult time when everything makes you feel lonely. I love spending time with them whether it is cooking together, watching a movie, playing games, and literally anything. Even basic things become exciting and fun when you do them with loved ones. Thanks to this tech era, I even reconnected with a lot of school friends which was a great feeling. All this really nourished me with positivity and good vibes.
6. Spend time volunteering/charity
I am really fortunate to be in a profession that lets me work from home without actually getting out of the house during this COVID time. But everyone is not that lucky. A lot of people lost their job due to COVID, and others still need to be out for their livelihood. I feel like since I am so fortunate I should help others to get out of these difficult times. Here are some things that made me happy.
- Started giving handsome tip to people for any services. For eg, any grocery or food delivery workers which bring us essential goods
- Donating to NGOs specifically set up for people impacted by COVID.
7. Exercise
Having a daily exercise routine is very important for a healthy life and now it is even more. I live a very active lifestyle, during COVID it is been really challenging, so I have to make some changes to my daily routine to stay active while being in the house. I tried yoga and resistance training. Aside from its physical benefits, exercising releases endorphins in your body which triggers feelings of positivity. So be sure to include an exercise routine into your day, even if it’s only a short one.
8. Reading a Book Every Day
I was not a reader and won't read anything unless I have to. During COVID, I started reading nonfictional, motivating self-improvement books, and I felt something that I never had. Books are not just for entertainment, they can make you smarter, kinder, more relaxed individual. Reading a book every day made me feel very soothing which definitely added to my positivity. I would highly encourage you all to read a book about whatever genre you like.
9. Meditation
I was someone who was not into meditation at all. I am so energetic that is very hard for me to stay calm and meditate. While trying to find ways to stay positive, I gave meditation a chance and the results were mind-blowing. Giving 15 min daily for just breathing exercise really relaxed my mind and filled me with positivity which stayed with me all day.
Conclusion
The situation that COVID has caused reminds me of the saying my dad always told me anytime when things weren't going my way.
Just like a good time doesn't stay forever, so does the difficult. This shall pass too.
