We can choose how to respond to our difficulties

This current pandemic crisis probably demands we address our problems in ways we were not required to before. We are forced to be intentional about keeping up our human connections. We hunger for tighter bonds and deeper care.

We need to feel safe especially in those times when we feel as if we are hanging on by our fingertips on a very narrow ledge – and the ground below looks a long, long way down.

Sometimes it can be sobering to ask the following questions:

- Am I ready to die?

- What would I do if a loved one died?

- What role do I play in this crisis?

These are tough questions but reflecting and answering them means we have a greater chance of facing our own fears.

Taking some time out to write down our own responses to these questions helps us to put them in perspective. We don’t have to be passive – we can be pro-active which helps with feeling less overwhelmed and crippled by our own thoughts.

Since the pandemic crisis started, each of us may have had a feeling of anxiety – the ‘what ifs’.

Yet, we can gradually discover we have the resources to cope as we fight our fears with dialogue and direct action.

As a result, a stronger self emerges out of the death throes of the anxiety. We can learn much about ourselves during the hard times.

And feel more empowered for having done so.