By GRACE C. DIEZ

It’s been over a year of dealing with COVID-19 and while the vaccination progress has been promising, the new variants of the virus continue to threaten the world. At this point, positivity feels like an uphill climb.

Make no mistake about this: it is reasonable to feel down and gloomy when there’s a global pandemic happening outside the comforts of your own home. It’s as if there’s a health lottery going on and no one knows who will contract COVID-19 and who will recover from it. So, yes. Feel free to face your fears and confront it — but don’t bury yourself in it.

Part of dealing with a crisis is to get into a calm or positive headspace for one to be able to think more clearly and plan the course of action. It’s a start.

Here are some of the ways to incite and inject positivity into your life.

Learn the ABCs of managing anxiety.  Ptr. Tito Almadin, licensed clinical pastoral counselor, shared a simplified way to diffuse the negative feelings and transition into a more positive one.

A – Accept and admit that there are things in life we can’t control.

“There are uncertainties and unpredictable things that can happen in our lifetime, but we must learn how to accept it and admit the reality that we can’t do something about it rather than be hostage to our fears, panic and anxiety. We need to be sane, wise and sharp to do the things that we need to do and to accomplish our tasks,” Ptr. Tito said and shared Philippians 4:6.

B- Behave appropriately. “People are panicking and they don’t know what to do. They resort to panic buying, can’t eat, sleepless nights and fear is haunting them. Trust in God. God is in control,” he counseled.

C- Come to God with gratefulness every day. “Thank God. Gratefulness is a sign of our love for God. Perfect love casts out fear. Gratefulness drives our worries and anxieties away,” Ptr. Tito added.

Make this a time to nourish your spirituality.

Take care of things you CAN control. After accepting and admitting that you can’t control everything and it’s all right, you can now focus on things that you can such as stocking up on necessities (Hey, it kind of feels normal now to have supplies of face masks, face shield and alcohol). General cleaning would help too. Since many tourist destinations have opened up as well, making travel plans and researching about places could help.

Release the endorphins. It’s a win-win situation. When you exercise, dance or move to the groove, the happy hormones are released, you get fit and strengthen your immune system as well.

Think of and find ways to support the frontliners and those who are in need. This crisis revealed true altruism. While most of us are called to stay home, the frontliners are sacrificing their own security and comfort to protect and serve us. We may be entering our second year of quarantine and health protocols but they still need our help and support. Donate if you can not only to the frontliners but also to people who have lost their sources of income and those who are struggling to make ends meet. As Proverbs 11:25 stated: “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

Spend virtual time with your loved ones and friends. Admit it, we’ve grown tired of Zoom sessions and we’re not as excited about it unlike before. But if we’re being honest, there are people you’ve lost touch with. It can be some family members, colleagues or even some friends. You might want to revisit those video or phone calls. Experience the magic of conversations and catching up with loved ones.

Pursue personal projects. Don’t be defeated by negative thoughts. Get excited over things you’ve always wanted to do.  Explore and pursue things that might interest you: reading books, watching movies and TV shows, gardening, drawing, learning a new language or elevating your cooking skills. There’s a number of things you can do with your spare time. Don’t pressure yourself with being productive though — just do things that make you feel positive and happy.

Positivity will not be easy in these tough times we’re in but taking baby steps on the way to it will surely be good not only for our mental health but will also be beneficial for our overall health. This is one of the ammunitions we would need to fight off the dangers of COVID-19. 

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