Let Gratitude Guide You Through COVID-19 Crisis!

Gratitude in times of a Pandemic? Yes, you read that right!

While people like you and I are continuing to struggle and cope with all the uncertainties and challenges that the outbreak of Novel Corona Virus has imposed, there is indeed a way of balancing our stress and keeping ourselves calm and constructive. While breaking news and social media trends pound a storm of worrisome updates that can cloud our minds like gray, heavy clouds, still there is one lesson to be learned from the resilience of medical workers, the dedication of researchers, and relentless efforts of governments across the globe. The crux is that it is a matter of life itself, to stay cautious but calm, so we can break through this chaos to think and act with clarity and hope, finding ways of playing our equally important individual roles to overcome the challenge. But how can one do this, when everything might appear to be so bleak?

If you want to know where to start, then practicing Gratitude is your answer!

Not only will you begin to view things differently, but you will feel far more ready to adjust and act to be beneficial to yourself and others.

Recapping What Gratitude Represents,

Gratitude is an emotion that is invoked by cultivating a regular habit of finding things to appreciate and applaud in life. It is an evolving process of improving our observation of all the goodness that surrounds us, whether it’s in small or significant forms. When a person begins to actively view life with the intent of being grateful, it suddenly brings to light all of the minuscule details, tiny events and of course the more grand gestures that can redeem our faith in life, renew hope that not all is bad or lost and there is still a chance things to get better.

How Will Gratitude Help You?

It has been scientifically proven that Gratitude can be an incredibly powerful coping tool that can heal you physically and mentally both. Thus while some mental benefits can seem intangible, you can definitely measure how your quality of life enriches by all of the more noticeable changes that occur within you and in your life.

●       Zooming In On Your Happiness

To practice Gratitude, you actively seek out positive things that happen to you over a day, taking time to appreciate goodness solely. This radiates feelings of joy and fulfillment within you and just like a pair of magnifying lenses, Gratitude blurs negativities away and highlights your reasons for staying positive. It overshadows your anxieties and stress, leaving them far behind in the background as you zoom in on the things that make you happy at the moment. This could help you appreciate your time in social distancing when instead of being hung up over the routine you’ve lost, you can find all those things you like about your new lifestyle. It could be you enjoying the fact that you have more leisure time that you can dress in your comfiest clothes while working from home or that you can finally spend more time with your family. Just find what you like about your new way of life and embrace it with a warm hug.

●       Finding Abundance in Life

Being restricted to our homes, it is understandable to feel as if the world is closing on us. This explains why so many people began hoarding excessive amounts of groceries as if acting out in such an irrational manner would be of help to anyone. But such chaotic frenzy arises from a lack of practicing Gratitude. Gratitude is all about realizing that you have enough while looking for the silver lining. It’s you trying to be content and positive. So, this would mean being grateful for the resources you have today and being caring towards what others have to go through just like you. So, start by noticing all the things you have right now and value their presence. You would no longer feel rushed to make erratic decisions as you will feel comforted that what you have is good enough.

●       Boost Up Your Health and Immune System

Whether you meditate or write a journal, practicing Gratitude in any form is going to boost your mood, as your brain secretes more happy hormones, aka Serotonin, and less stress-inducing chemicals like Cortisol, gushing you with positivity. Research also shows that Gratitude strengthens your immune system, as one finding showed how students who practiced Gratitude had better health, as a higher count of blood cells when compared to people who didn’t intentionally practice Gratitude as a habit. Considering how COVID 19 is all about keeping your body up and running to resist attacks from the virus, it’s better to be healthy emotionally and physically through staying optimistic, so we have better chances of fighting this disease.

●       Rest Better With A Good Night’s Sleep

Whether it is your set of anxieties or a condition of insomnia aggravated by COVID 19 that troubles you from sleeping, you can block all of that negativity out to sleep better by practicing Gratitude. As you try remaining focused on comforting thoughts, you can detach yourself from the subconscious fears that cause you to worry constantly. In this case, a 5-minute journaling exercise before going to bed can work as a mental detox cleanse, helping you end the day on a high note by reminiscing on what went well.

●       Get More Productive With Gratitude

If you’re a workaholic, then this crisis may have badly taken a toll on you. However, you can still achieve your goals and complete your work by finding Gratitude to help you shift from feeling gloomy and cynical into someone continuing life with optimism. Contemplating over every small and significant source of joy today can lift your spirits, keeping you motivated into completing your tasks. However, if you’re taking some time off, Gratitude will actually make you see this time as the single best opportunity to finally try out what you always wanted to try but never seemed to have the time for before. Let your brain be opportunistic and creative and unlock all the ways you can immerse yourself into working your way towards what you had always wished. You could aim at acquiring a hobby, a skill, or even a state of mental wellbeing.

●       Being Kind to Others

Saying a simple thank you to your loved one can make them smile and feel happier at a time when almost everyone is stressed. Practicing Gratitude for people in your lives will make you cherish their existence, tolerate them when they’re difficult, and, most importantly, create more loving and trusted bonds between them and you. When you list down people in your gratitude journal, who made you grateful for, you’ll think of everyone from your relatives, friends, doctors trying to save lives, sanitation workers keeping our cities running, and everyone else who has played some part in making your life even slightly better. Try reciprocating the favor to them by spreading the love around. If everyone indeed starts being a bit more grateful for one another, we would have a society filled with kindness and compassion, ready to help one another.

Remember, it’s normal if you’re still struggling and feel stuck in the wrong place. The last thing you need right now is to beat yourself up for not being like the perfect version you had imagined. You are doing the best you can and totally deserve to choose whatever coping mechanism feels right to you now. Find your form of self-care and stick to it without guilt. Because what’s most important is that you are just as grateful to yourself as you try being thankful for others. 

All this said, don’t panic. Make the commitment to start this journey, see where that takes you, and reassess. The process is rewarding on both a personal and professional level — and trust me, you have something to say that people want to listen to.

Questions? Have any lessons that I missed? Need to brainstorm a topic you’d like me to write about? Share below in the comments — I’d love to help and write about them!

THANKYOU for reading it!

Don't forget to share so others who may be suffering would get some help :)

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Lubaba Afzal is an Organizational Psychologist and the Founder of PsychedBrain, an online platform providing mental wellness solutions to its valued users. PsychedBrain offers self-help books and journals as well as virtual mentoring sessions to make mental health tools smart and accessible for all.