The Delta outbreak is uncertain, but we can kick the Covid-19 blues

Wednesday, 27 October 2021

The Delta outbreak has made things uncertain, but it's important to try and stay positive.

OPINION: I read an article recently that struck a chord and got me thinking.

Normally, I think it’s fair to say, I’m upbeat, motivated, and have too many hobbies to handle. However, over the past 6 months I’ve found myself losing motivation, dropping good habits, and picking up bad ones. I’m very aware that all of this is going on, but do you know what? I don’t care.

The article was about languishing, which apparently, is the name for feeling joyless and unmotivated.

It is the absence of well-being. You are neither depressed, nor flourishing. You just are, and you don’t care.

While the article was a sobering read, it warmed me to know that there are others going through the same thing as me. In fact, it inspired me to write again for the first time in about those same six months.

Don’t get me wrong, I am well-aware how lucky I am to live in Northland, let alone New Zealand, and I have no illusions that there are others doing it far harder than I am.

However, this is how I feel, and I have no shame in it.

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The article got me thinking about why. Why is Covid-19 causing us to languish?

We are living in a time where uncertainty is around every corner, with every sunrise, and daily announcement at 1pm. The Delta outbreak put the nail in the freedom coffin. We had our lives back, then in a matter of hours we were ordered to our homes for another lockdown.

For how long, who could know?

This is not a criticism of the Government, it is simply a reflection that Covid-19 is causing societal concerns that haven’t fully surfaced yet.

So how can we prepare for and deal with these concerns?

Goal setting is commonly revered as a key to satisfaction and happiness. It is a tool I have used religiously. But how can we set realistic, rewarding goals and achieve them, when our settings, circumstances and very environment are out of our control?

I certainly haven’t been working on my goals lately.

Psychologists claim that one of the best ways to deal with emotions is to name them. I now have a name for this feeling of emptiness, and already, I can feel it filling.

Psychologists also claim that a first step to recovery is acceptance.

Perhaps, we need to accept that this uncertain world is the world we are now living in, and we must adapt to it.

By all means, be hopeful that things will return to some semblance of normal, but don’t hold your breath for it, and put your goals on hold like I did.

I encourage anybody feeling languished to read the article I did, and put a plan in place to get back on track.

Here is my plan - Step one is to get back to my hobbies, step two is to revisit my goals, and step three is to kick these Covid blues and start caring again.

I don’t have the answers yet, but I feel motivated to find them. For now, that’s good enough.