Mental Toughness

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Happy Monday!
No doubt, this quarantine is a mental battle. It is so easy to fall in a negative mental state.
Sign #1: You'd want me to stop saying Happy Monday.
Sign #2: You think that would solve anything.
First of all, let me virtually hug you. What you are feeling is valid and you have every reason to be worried. Everything we know is certain no longer feels certain. You are thinking about your job, your finances, your responsibilities, your productivity, your family and their health most of all. You and I are no different here. I hug you in unity because I feel that way too. I apologize if it seems that my positivity is toxic. People who know me most knows how much of a worrier I am and I have to catch myself many times in a day to keep me from being myself.
Which brings me to my second point. I refuse to feel helpless and overwhelmed by incubating negative thoughts. Why?
🎯 I'd feed fear and it grows, resulting to panic that clouds my judgment.
🎯 Anxiety ensues and it weakens my body's immune system or whacks it up causing it to react inappropriately.
🎯 I make plans that are terminal and permanent when the situation is temporary.
🎯 I either feel mad, blame, fatalistic or victimized - all of which gives power to the external forces and circumstances.
🎯 I affect other people along the way, much like what this virus is doing.
There are a host of other things that can go out of hand when we do not take care of our thoughts.
Rule of thumb ‼ If I worry about it but cannot or do nothing about it, I am just unjustly punishing myself. Myself.
This is the time to be mentally tough.
Some simple steps to exercise mental toughness:
✔ When you wake up, DECIDE that you will take this day's concerns one day at a time and give it your best shot. Everything else, we put before God in prayer with our full trust.
✔ Plan out your day INTENTIONALLY. Follow a schedule, make a goal, be productive. Work, learn, teach, share. Make your home pleasant to those living with you by making it clean, by making meal times joyful, by making chores necessary but fun.
✔ COMMUNICATE constantly with people around you or virtually with friends and groups that empower, uplifts and gives you fresh ideas or lets you contribute. These people will make you realize that you are not alone, nor are you helpless and therefore should not be overwhelmed.
✔ Be AWARE of what you feel. Name the feeling and ask if it is valid. Self talk is easier if we allow ourselves time away from the news, from nay sayers. Minimize the "noise".
✔ Lastly, UNWIND once in a while. Share a good laugh with family and friends, watch something light, play, dance. Whatever it takes to take your mind away from the concerns of the day and recharge you to fight back.
In this time of quarantine, we discover our strengths and our weaknesses. Set your eyes in keeping yourself healthy in mind, body and spirit. That alone is already a big help in battling COVID-19 and the rest of 2020's surprises.
💪 Charge on. Whatever happens, this is still a Happy Monday. You decide.

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