Kindness and self-care

In addition to today’s world full of money worries and concerns of what the future holds, the pandemic years of living under restrictions and isolation was inevitably going to have an impact. That together with the fear of the consequences of contracting the coronavirus that was thrust upon us daily through media and conversation heightened worries in most and introduced anxiety to many that had previously not experienced extremes of this powerful emotion.

The feelings of fear or worry being far removed from the normal anxiety associated with sitting an exam or taking a driving test, for example.

The altered ways of working that came in during the early months of 2020, affected most individuals in diverse ways. For some it took them out of their comfort zone and forced them to create different practices in an attempt to balance both work and home life. This was happening at the same time as we all were attempting to avoid the Covid-19 contagion that quickly spread across the world, with heightened worries about catching the virus and how best to support and protect our families and loved ones.

The impact continued to be experienced in many ways with the frequent changes in the way we live and work, testing our psychological resilience continually. It is when we are caught up in the commotion of everyday work life, we can fail to recognise changes in others and equally signs of our own deteriorating mental health and wellbeing.

I recently came to realise that over the past 12 months especially I have failed to read the signs that my body was telling me. Taking on too much. Not eating, drinking or taking proper breaks as I have always tried to do and more importantly failing to recognise that this was affecting my health wholly. Was all this lost in the attempt to reintroduce the normal or did it just became a victim of the pace of life in the post-pandemic workplace?

Has the pandemic stolen some of the kindness? The imposed restrictions everyone was under, forcing people to concentrate on protecting themselves and their loved ones in an insular fashion, left many viewing others as a potential threat, changing behaviours and sensitivities.

Being kind is being human, with many great returns - studies tell us that acts of kindness can help improve our mental wellbeing by creating positive feelings and a sense of reward, providing us with the feeling of purpose and self-worth.

Practicing self-kindness and looking after ourselves when we are struggling is the caring thing to do. Acceptance of change or when things haven’t gone to plan supports us well and is a notable example of self-care. Overly worrying about anything that we have no direct control over will only serve to cause us heightened anxiety.

“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, 
and most underrated agent of human change.” 
Sen. Bob Kerrey        

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend everyone, practice self-kindness and enjoy the Coronation of King Charles III. ?If you are working, take care and look after yourselves.?