The world is different. Life has changed.
The coronavirus struck silently and quickly. The ripple effects began immediately and morphed into the current tsunami that we are now trying to manage. Every day, we wake up to a different scenario. The speed of it all is overwhelming.
This unseen threat can catapult our hearts into anxiety and terror. No matter how you stack it, the current world health crisis adds up to loss for all of us.
Loss of perceived control.
Financial loss.
Loss of a sense of safety and security.
Loss of routine and daily life as we knew it.
Loss, loss, and more loss. We can feel small, overwhelmed, and outmatched.
Our hearts are our most prized possession. Our hearts are the guts of who we are. Now, more than ever, we need to guard our hearts from outside threats and dangers. How we think about this current and unforeseen challenge matters more than any of us realizes.
5 Crucial Tips for Managing this Crisis
Here are five tips for guarding your heart and your emotional well-being during this current crisis.
- Practice breathing deeply.
Deep breathing (in through your nose and out through your mouth) is the easiest and most immediate weapon in your arsenal to battle uncertainty, fear, and anxiety.
In terms of emotional infection control, deep breathing is similar to washing your hands. In order to be effective, it must be practiced regularly. We must make it a habit.
Start and end your day by taking a few moments to breathe deeply. Imagine yourself breathing in peace and then exhaling fear, worry, and distress. When you find yourself fearful or anxious during the day, take a moment to breathe (again, in through the nose and out through the mouth). Picture yourself in a safe place. Peace in. Fear and anxiety out.
2. Respond rather than react.
With each new bit of news, our minds race and our hearts react. We have “emotional reflexes” that are immediate and powerful.
Rather than being hijacked by this initial flood of thoughts and feelings, take a moment, breathe deeply, and let these thoughts and feelings pass on through. Acknowledge them and then release them.
Now, rather than reacting and being at the whim of whatever happens next, you can choose how you are personally going to respond.
It’s easy to get derailed and spend all our time watching the latest updates. Knowledge and awareness are huge, but there comes a tipping point for each of us when more information ceases to be helpful. We can become obsessed with things beyond our control, which only stokes our anxiety and inflames our fears.
We all have things to do. Focus on them, one by one. Work. Cleaning. Laundry. Relationships. Pets. Stay in the present. One thing, one moment at a time.
3. Act for the greater good.
What does this look like?
It means following the guidelines laid down for us by our health experts and elected officials. There are people out there working around the clock to protect us and see us through this. We can stand with them against this virus by courageously and humbly acting for the greater good – even if it’s personally uncomfortable and costly.
We might be divided politically, but now is a time when we must come together. No matter what we might think about who is in office and where, if each of us acts for the greater good – thinking about those around us – we will get through this better overall.
Just as in all of life, we must confront our own arrogance (“It’s all about me and what I think and want”) and pursue humility and love (“It’s about all of us because we’re in this together”).
4. Do and say things that promote peace.
With activities restricted and our routines in tatters, it’s easy to spew our discontent and frustration on social media and in other ways. Though each of us needs to take what’s happening inside us seriously, now is a time to constrain what we want to say in favor of speaking for the greater good.
We all need places to vent. Please make sure you have some avenues where you can “let it out” without fear of judgment. Venting publicly online, however, will most likely not serve you or anyone else well.
Our words have power. Now is the time to think of each other first and speak words that are helpful and that promote peace.
Yes, this is hard. Yes, we can do this.
5. Keep your eyes on the bigger picture.
Life is about relationships. Isolation is painful and debilitating. In our world, thankfully we have multiple ways to stay connected, even if we can’t be physically present.
Life is about love and service. Life is about living for the good of those around us. Love involves sacrifice. It’s a bit ironic. In order to live from our hearts and love others, we must “get out of our own heads.”
It can feel like life is shrinking. Don’t let circumstances shrink your heart. Find ways to live with purpose and meaning, even if you’re confined and restricted.
Keep your eyes on the larger story. Refuse to shrink. You are more important than you know.
Remember that love always wins.
If we put the above into a set of affirmations, it would be something like this:
I will practice breathing deeply.
I will respond rather than react.
I will act for the greater good.
I will do and say things that promote peace.
I will keep my eyes on the bigger picture.
We will get through this – together. It’s going to take all of us. We need you.
Love will win. It always does.
Question: Has the coronavirus situation affected your emotional well-being or grief process? How so?
Additional Recommended Resources:
Grief Soundbites: Fear – Gary Roe YouTube
The 5 Step Anti-Anxiety Prescription – Wellness
Grief Soundbites: Anxiety – Gary Roe YouTube
Thankyou Gary. God’s Word and I really am using the breathing technique, I know we need God to get us through this and to be able to do our part no matter big or small, within the guidelines right now, we can pursue peace and ask God for ways we can do this.
So true. Well said. Thank you!
Thank you Gary, these tips are very helpful, and I will be implementing them all.
The anxiety and fear can be toxic for me, when I’m listening to others or news reports too often.
So I’ve found the need to create that harmony with just the right amount that keeps me up to speed on the basics, but not to overdo it.
I’ve found myself in a weird place with all of this going on… Like this almost eerie peace (or perhaps even apathy at times).
Like my heart has truly become reconciled to God, and I know He’s in charge, so whatever comes comes, because I have finally accepted and fully embraced the uncomfortable fact that neither myself nor anyone else is really in charge or has control over the big stuff- at least when it comes to life and death.
As much as I don’t like that, and want control outcomes, I’m learning to be uncomfortably comfortable knowing I just don’t have that power, and trying to trust Him fully- whatever future that might bring.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still doing my part to be proactive, and helpful in the ways that I can with my husband, and other living kids.
But since the loss of our baby, and the world speeding up around me to the point where I just couldn’t follow- this has been an unexpected breath of fresh air, even amidst the fear and anxiety.
Like it forced the world around us to slow back down a little again, so we could focus on what’s most important to us- and even with social distancing, I feel more connected to not only the community, but the world as we’re now all in the grieving state that I’ve been for the last 5 months together…
I hope and pray for this to all
come to an end soon…
Until then…
I’m grateful for the simple truths of the important basics that for me are easy to do, but too often easily overlooked because of life’s normal every day fluff.
Hi April. Thanks so much for sharing this. So well said. So true. Thank you for these reminders. It’s a great time to back up to what’s really important. What is priority? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find our hearts, be clear on our “why,” and give ourselves in love and service? That would be a great change coming out of all this. May it be so… Thanks, April. Blessings to you…
My PTSD symptoms are trying really hard to rear their ugly heads.? After about 3 weeks of increased anxiety, sadness, irritability, eating sugar, and hiding in my phone, I realized that I am sort of subconsciously waiting for a family member or close friend to die. Like waiting for a shoe to drop. ? Trying to turn to Jesus and give it to Him, but it’s a struggle. After going through the loss of my son, I am a bit leery of what God might allow next. While my head believes that He uses everything for good, my emotions are afraid of another tsunami-sized loss.?
HI Martha. Thanks for sharing this. Yes, this time would stir all that! Once we’ve been hit enough time, we naturally brace ourselves for the next blow. Hard to rest, to trust, to relax. Thankfully, God knows all this. He is our Shepherd. He leads us and goes before us. He will enable us for whatever is out there, and love us perfectly all the way through it. Keep being as nice to yourself as possible, Martha. Blessings…
Thank you for these words, Gary. Very timely and helpful. You asked about how it’s affecting me. I go in and out of sadness. My Bible study students are being sent home so there have been a lot of goodbyes. Some can’t go because their home country borders are closed. That’s a different kind of sadness. I’m thankful to be available to these kids as they deal with so many things. I’m missing my adult kids and my family who are across the ocean. I try not to feel alone, and am so thankful God is walking through this with me!
Hi Katie. Thanks for sharing this. Ugh. Yes, that would be painful and heart-wrenching. In your situation, I can only imagine the feeling of family isolation would be great indeed. I’m so thankful you are where you are, doing what you are doing. Jesus shares that loneliness. He knows, and He loves you perfectly. Praying for you now…
Thank you! You words of wisdom & hope are so appreciated now.
Hi Diana. Thank you! Blessings…
If people remain calm this will work much better.
Thanks for commenting. I completely agree. Even if our personal situation appears dire, calm and peace always benefits us and all those around us. Thanks again!
I feel like I did when Ken passed away. That said is it wrong for me to say passed away vs died or dead. I was recently corrected & I realized maybe she is right but I have had a tough time putting it behind me
Hi Jeanne. Thanks for sharing and commenting. Many feel that the word “dead” or “died” more accurately express what happened. Words are powerful, and some words are simply too powerful for our hearts at certain stages / phases of our grief. Ultimately, it’s not about using the “right words.” It’s about our hearts – grieving as authentically as possible, one moment, one day at a time. Please be kind to yourself in all this, Jeanne. Blessings to you…
Gary, I “love” the way you write. Theses points are greatly needed at this time. Many are scared. Many also have sweet Peace during these uncertain days. Thanks.
Hi Karlyn. Great to hear from you again! Hope you are doing well – I know you are. May the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, guard our hearts and minds in Christ. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Blessings to you…
Well written, helpful and hopeful!
Hi Linda. Great to hear from you! Blessings…
very calming, thank you
Hi Christine. Thanks for commenting. Peace to you…
I can’t seem to feel anything about this virus. Nothing can broke me anymore than the day my son passed away. I just do what I have to and that is go to work. I work for a bank and we must be there for the people so there I am. My thought is you think this is hard just loss a child nothing compares to that not even this coronavirus!
Hi Brenda. Thanks for sharing with us. I’m so, so sorry about your son. Please be kind to yourself. And yes…this outbreak can seem like a fog “out there” somewhere when we’re already shattered by a loss like this. Please reach out if you need to. I’m here to help, if I can. Blessings to you, Brenda.
Thank you for these tips. I have had more anxiety than usual. I have basically put my grief on hold, not dealing with it at all.
Hi Anita. Thanks for commenting. You are right. It’s hard to grieve our loss specifically with all this going on in the world around us. Grief is such a timing thing. Have no fear. The grief will express itself here and there along the way. If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know.
Great tips for those challenged with the impact of coronovirus. I pray that this will have a positive outcome where mankind values life and others. In the western world may we appreciate everything we have and learn lessons from having to re-think how we live each and every moment. Hang in there everyone. I believe in a God who oversees all things and will protect us if we ask. Psalm 91 is a great one to read daily at this time.
Hi Sylvia. Thanks for sharing with us. Wonderfully put. Psalm 91 is indeed a great passage for times like this. Philippians 4:6-10 and Psalm 46 are among my favorites during uncertain times. Glad we’re in this together. Thanks again for sharing, Sylvia. Praying for you now…
Yes..my anxiety is out of control and i am constant case of panic..its all i think about
Hi Jan. Thanks for sharing this. I’m so sorry. You are not alone – that’s for certain. Anxiety is everywhere, and it’s palpable. Please take good care of yourself. If I can help, please reach out and let me know. We’re in this together. Praying for you now. Peace to you…
Thank you for these wise but simple & doable tips . God bless & protect us all .
Hi Sandra. Thanks for commenting. Yes, indeed. Praying for you now. Blessings…