How to stay Motivated in this Pandemic

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Do you know how long the last pandemic lasted? The last pandemic was the 1918 Flu and it lasted two years.  Science has come a long way in the last 100 years so we can keep an active hope that this pandemic will end sooner. That a cure will be found faster and we will be on our road to normal.

While we have always had wars, natural calamities and important problems across the world, the challenges seem to just keep adding up this year. America had challenges with racism and wrongful deaths. Protests breaking out all over the country and then peaceful protestors being attacked. Floods, wildfires all happening around the world. The violent death of a nurse in Florida who had just finished her shift helping COVID patients.  Unexplainable suicide deaths, including a successful Indian movie star, that saddened a country of a billion people. The surreal videos of the blasts in Beirut, almost like a science fiction movie. Grim realities and difficult images that are hard to remove from your mind. No matter where you are, 2020 has been a very challenging year for all of us.

Our children are facing a very new challenge, one that we have never faced before. What is very important for us to realize that we as adults have never faced a pandemic in our childhood.

While we are facing important challenges, we must focus on how we can overcome these times. What can we learn, what can we teach and how we can grow. An easy way to remain motivated is to think of an Emotions we feel during this time ~ and then try to strengthen a Skill to combat that emotion.  The fun part of this list of skills is that they all start with the letter C – just like Covid and Corona and Calamities.  As we battle the fallouts of this difficult time- we may forget what we already know. This list serves as a reminder for all of us. We must understand the impacts of what we do today and the skills we build today, can shape the future of our children.

So, what are some of the important C-skills we must strive to teach and practice  during a global pandemic? What are the common emotions we feel and how can we strive to face this challenge? 

One of the common emotions we feel is Frustration. Dealing with the changes, the restrictions. Having to follow certain rules and guidelines. Losing our freedom. With this comes Uncertainty, Worry and Stress. This is a normal emotion we can feel just by reading all the media reports. We have real news and a constant stream of social media news that may or may not be true. Stress would be a general feeling of uneasiness, fear, worry or anguish. Skill Number 1 we need to practice to combat stress is Calmness. Practice destressing.  Make your list of activities that reduce your stress. Each person has their own checklist. For some it maybe Prayer, Yoga, Singing, Cooking, Reading, Taking walks but the overarching skill is – Practice destressing – consciously and passionately. When you are stressed, practice Calmness. 

Being stressed is a general issue. Most people face it and one can handle it by consciously addressing it with a regular commitment to actively indulge in activities that reduce stress. But another Emotion or challenge that is increasingly becoming common during this time is -sadly Depression -This is a higher level than just general stress.   In this age of social distancing and restrictions it is easily possible for someone who is borderline depressed to quickly move into more serious depression. With so much of negative events happening, each time we read bad news we get pushed more and more into feeling at loss. If you have lost hope, you can definitely recognize signs of depression and you must speak up and talk this out with someone. Do not suffer alone. If you are hesitant to speak to a professional, that’s okay – reach out to a friend or a family member.  Skill number 2 we need to practice is Communication ~ Identify your support system and actively engage with them. Don’t be ashamed to share how you feel because there are several people out there who feel the same way. Be honest with yourself and talk about what bothers you. Having that support system and relying on it will go a long way in helping you bounce back.  And if you do not have any single friend or family member that you can confide in -you must absolutely seek professional help. So when you are depressed practice Communication. 

Another Emotion we are dealing with is Brain drain. Now that we are not engaging in a lot of activities we used to do before, there could be a general sense of brain drain, losing out on stuff, feeling lazy, particularly in children since they are out of many of their regular activities. Skill 3 we must practice is Creativity. At the start of the lockdowns we had a flurry of baking and cooking -but now a lot of that has tapered down. Keep yourself busy with new avenues of Creativity.  Staying busy will definitely help us combat this time productively and happily. When you are bored, practice Creativity  

And finally – another emotion we feel is losing control of the situation. The skill that help us alleviate this feeling is Skill 4- Compassion.  We cannot control how we automatically feel about this situation,  we can actively engage in helping spread positivity and compassion to others. The more you engage in making others feel better, you will feel better. So seek out opportunities to help others. Maybe its just a friendly chat, a phone call or video call, or just making a family member feel better. An easy way to get out of our own bubble of frustration, worry, stress, loss of hope, is to practice making others feel better. It is a guaranteed skill that will empower you to feel better. When you feel hopeless practice Compassion.

  

There are several studies now on the psychological and long-term mental health impacts of the pandemic. But each time mankind has faced a challenge we have come out stronger. As a recap, the C -skills we need during a pandemic 

When you feel stressed – practice Calmness

When you feel depressed – practice Communication

When you feel bored – practice Creativity ;

When you feel helpless, practice Compassion

  

Let us all work together to life our spirits and empower those around us as well. 

How To overcome the Writer's Block

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The Writer’s Block is the term associated with losing the ability to write, after having written for some time. It is estimated that many aspiring, as well as established writers can go through this phase at some point of time in their writing career.

What was my Writer’s Block? After being published in 2004 in Chicken Soup for the Soul series, I received fan-mail from several children in the United States, India and Europe. The Indian kids were very excited about a story by an Indian author. It felt great, but then I didn’t write again for a while. A few years later, Chicken Soup republished the story in the Best of Chicken Soup... edition and I should have been encouraged enough to write more. But questions that kept coming to my mind were - what do I write about? And is this really meant for me? How do I find time? So, I did not write anything for three to four years. I always had the desire to write but just  never got to doing it. Since at least some of you may have gone through this feeling or have a Writer’s block to begin with - How can we Overcome the Writer's Block?

Here are five easy steps

Step 1) Call yourself a Writer: Here is a tough question. Do you call yourself a writer? Writing was not a  major source of income for me.  I had an existing career already and I defined myself by that.  It felt odd, perhaps a little arrogant to call myself a “writer”.  Then I read an article about published and unpublished writers. “Unpublished writer,” that sounded inspirational.

So if you do not have a lot of published work to your credit, but still have the drive within you, you could start by calling yourself an unpublished writer. Just saying it aloud feels like you have this treasure trove of ideas, waiting to be written on paper and then be published eventually. Believe you are a writer. When somebody asks if you write, say with confidence – Yes. Don’t be dismissive. Humility is a virtue, but self- confidence is empowering. The difference for me was monumental. From being a person who occasionally dabbled in writing, calling myself a writer inspired me tremendously and helped me overcome my block. 

Step 2) Practice writing: Use every opportunity that comes your way to contribute your stories to. Put together your first draft. Read it and rewrite it. When you go through any emotional experience, write down how you feel at that time. Make mental notes and go back and spend a few minutes writing. As it is said a bad piece of writing is always better than a blank page. 

Step 3) Share your writing: Have it read by your own honest board of critics. Mine consists of my children, my sister and my friends. They both quickly point out anything they don’t like. Feedback is a major part of any writer's journey. Find a critiques group and join it. I found mine through SCBWI -Society of Children's Book Writers. My critiques group is a group of authors who give me feedback on my writing.  

4) Do not worry about the Competition: There will always successful writers out there. Do not compare yourself to other writers or their success. Instead your goal should be to better than yourself.  Make friends with other authors. Make them your support system and be their support system as well. 

5) Take Failure out of your dictionary : If writing is something you want to do as well then, jump up enthusiastically and launch your career. You can decide if any failure you encounter is really a stumbling block or a stepping stone to your future success. Write as therapy for yourself. Write to share your life experience.  Even if folks are lukewarm .. at least your journey has started.  You may not yet have any best-selling publication to your credit, but that doesn’t mean it is not in store for you in the future.  J

So to repeat the 5 steps to Overcome the Writer's Block - 

(1) Be bold and you call yourself a Writer.  

(2) Practice Writing as much as you can.

(3) Share your Writing and accept feedback.

(4) Don't worry about the competition

(5) Take Failure out of your Dictionary.