Challenges and Opportunities (during Coronavirus)
As some of you have probably noticed, we are getting a bit of a shock at present, as some of the things that we thought of as normal or true or permanent are turning out not to be so. Here in France, for example, it’s now illegal to leave your home except under very specific conditions, of which “I felt like it” definitely isn’t one! Oh, and of course, lots of people are dying, though that doesn’t matter as much – until it’s someone you love.
Needless to say, there are a lot of thoughts being expressed about every possible aspect of our new situation. So for me, the challenge and opportunity is to find something new and (hopefully) useful to add.
For the rest of you, emotional challenges might include boredom, loneliness, fear and uncertainty, frustration, and anger; some people are already mixing up quite a cocktail of negativity, and we’re only in week 1. If life seemed hard before quarantine, you probably didn’t need this added on.
Human relationships of all sorts are going to be tested by constant proximity, and on a practical level, there are things like how to home-school your children, or just entertain them 24/7. People here are joking that there will be a lot of divorces after this is over, but it’s probably not only a joke, as so many people simply don’t have the resources to be kind and patient to someone they have perhaps sometimes struggled to live with beforehand.
Needless to say, any change also brings opportunities. I don’t mean the opportunity to dig out and annoy people with all those fluffy New Age slogans like “everything happens for a reason” and “the universe wants you to learn something”, but the opportunity to take concrete action that might have been difficult or impossible before. Whether you’re on lockdown and can’t leave the house, or if it’s just that your gym and favourite cafe have closed, what can you find to do with the extra time you now have? Especially if you’ve always felt that there aren’t enough hours in the day, well, here are some more!
If you'd like a few ideas to get you started: in the first 5 days of lockdown I’ve
- done 3 hours of yoga per day (that’s 3 more than usual)
- learnt about 20% of the music for my next choir concert
- studied chess openings (more urgent than it sounds!!)
- started a 10-day rice diet that would be more or less impossible if I was going to the gym
- slept extra, because my body is asking me to (don’t know why)
- written my first newsletters for a while :-)
And I have plenty of ideas for what to do when they extend the lockdown to four weeks or beyond, which they will.
Of course, not everyone is going to find the next few weeks or months easy and enjoyable, but fortunately, challenges and opportunities are what coaching is all about, and coaching is what I do! So I do hope that those of you who are facing challenges – or seeking to make the most of this opportunity - will soon be hammering on my door, because now really is a very special time.
And if you know someone else who might benefit, do help them out by forwarding this newsletter to them :-)
Needless to say, there are a lot of thoughts being expressed about every possible aspect of our new situation. So for me, the challenge and opportunity is to find something new and (hopefully) useful to add.
For the rest of you, emotional challenges might include boredom, loneliness, fear and uncertainty, frustration, and anger; some people are already mixing up quite a cocktail of negativity, and we’re only in week 1. If life seemed hard before quarantine, you probably didn’t need this added on.
Human relationships of all sorts are going to be tested by constant proximity, and on a practical level, there are things like how to home-school your children, or just entertain them 24/7. People here are joking that there will be a lot of divorces after this is over, but it’s probably not only a joke, as so many people simply don’t have the resources to be kind and patient to someone they have perhaps sometimes struggled to live with beforehand.
Needless to say, any change also brings opportunities. I don’t mean the opportunity to dig out and annoy people with all those fluffy New Age slogans like “everything happens for a reason” and “the universe wants you to learn something”, but the opportunity to take concrete action that might have been difficult or impossible before. Whether you’re on lockdown and can’t leave the house, or if it’s just that your gym and favourite cafe have closed, what can you find to do with the extra time you now have? Especially if you’ve always felt that there aren’t enough hours in the day, well, here are some more!
If you'd like a few ideas to get you started: in the first 5 days of lockdown I’ve
- done 3 hours of yoga per day (that’s 3 more than usual)
- learnt about 20% of the music for my next choir concert
- studied chess openings (more urgent than it sounds!!)
- started a 10-day rice diet that would be more or less impossible if I was going to the gym
- slept extra, because my body is asking me to (don’t know why)
- written my first newsletters for a while :-)
And I have plenty of ideas for what to do when they extend the lockdown to four weeks or beyond, which they will.
Of course, not everyone is going to find the next few weeks or months easy and enjoyable, but fortunately, challenges and opportunities are what coaching is all about, and coaching is what I do! So I do hope that those of you who are facing challenges – or seeking to make the most of this opportunity - will soon be hammering on my door, because now really is a very special time.
And if you know someone else who might benefit, do help them out by forwarding this newsletter to them :-)