Business as Usual
Business as Usual: practical ways to resist living in fear amid uncertainty of COVID-19.
Getting hysterical has almost never effectively solved any problem. Ever. Really. Like never ever.
Getting good information, listening to your gut, leaning on your values and making strategic moves towards the life you want, however, are great ways to solve problems, handle crises and evaluate what’s going on in your life.
In the face of our current worldwide concern about the novel coronavirus, (COVID-19) we are getting invited to become hysterical and use impulsive reactions to deal with the uncertainty of this virus. I imagine you’ve heard about the run on toilet paper and other basic supplies at local grocery stores? That’s the type of thing people do (hoarding resources) when they are panicked about their safety and well-being.
I’m no infectious disease specialist, so I can’t speak to the real safety/health concerns of this new virus, but what I can speak to is the psychological impact of panic versus calm, reasoned reactions to things that scare us.
As always, the first step when feeling out of control, scared and otherwise riled up is to assess the situation. Are you actually in grave danger at this very moment? Most often, the answer to this question is no, there's no immediate, life-threatening problem facing you. Once that assessment is complete (should only take a few seconds) then you have choices to make. It's a great idea at this point to get more information and to identify what options you have to strategically handle the problem/issue/thing that is worrying you.
If we accurately assess the situation regarding this virus, based on the current available information, it appears that our best defense is what we should have been doing all along: wash your hands, don’t sneeze all over the place, don’t cough on your neighbor, and, for the love, stop picking your nose! Take good care of your overall health by managing stress, eating nutritious food, moving your body and getting adequate sleep. If you are in one of the high-risk categories, please feel free to take extra safety measures for yourself.
Our Office Precautions
At our office our precautions are the same as they have always been. We clean our office, the adjoining waiting area and community bathroom regularly including: door handles, flusher, faucets and other high touch areas. We ask that anyone, as we always have, please move their session to the phone or ask for a complimentary reschedule if you are ill with a fever, flu, stomach bug or other likely contagious concern. To be clear, I actually BEG people not to come in anytime close to them having a stomach bug. Seriously, that is just plain mean to pass along something that involves vomiting.
Stay Calm. Stay Informed.
So let’s all be calm and considerate. Stay home if you’re sick, or think you’ve been around someone sick. Get good information. Then, move on with your life. There is no need to read 72 articles on this, or to spend endless hours winding yourself up, just because it's new and unknown. Do what you can, with the information we currently have, without panic.
