These difficult times can make us “want to drink gin straight out of the cat dish as Anne Lamott so eloquently put it in Small Victories,” says Jane of the Autonomous Ideas blog. Instead, put the dish down for now and check out this roundup of ideas from positive psychology to elevate your coping skills.
My favorite from the article is the Control, Influence, Accept Model as explained here:
By looking at global problems like the Corona virus using this model, we can move from feeling powerless and overwhelmed. If we think about what we can control, it’s our behaviour and our immediate environment. We can ensure we wash our hands regularly…When we think about what we can influence, we can look at how we model our behaviour. I frequently say, ‘children do what you do, not what you say’, and here is another opportunity for us to put this into practice. We can model hand washing, of course, but we also have the opportunity to talk about how panic-buying could put vulnerable people at greater risk, and show how we can support our older neighbours, if they self-isolate. For accept, this is ALL the things that are outside of what we can control or influence – that’s a pretty big remit! This includes all the decisions made by our local authorities, the National Health Service, the World Health Organisation, and everyone outside our immediate social group. By ceding concern or worry back to the organisations who have the remit, we are liberated to focus on what we can control or influence, as the worry – that great thief of joy – is removed or reduced as we accept it serves no purpose.
That last part hit home with me and while reading it I did feel the relief of knowing that I’m not in charge of the world right now. Join me in taking a deep breath and a break from worry to focus on what we do control and influence in this moment.
Positive Psychology in Difficult Times | Autonomous Ideas Blog
Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash
