Are We Allowed To Be Excited?
Why good news for you might be bad for others
Boris really said “Lets get the jager in for my birthday” didn’t he?
Last week it was announced that the UK would begin to ease out of lockdown with a roadmap plan.
First to reopen is the schools, then the beer gardens, and finally in June, the nightclubs.
June 21st in my phone calendar is now marked “get as drunk as posisble and hug literally everyone”, and knowing it’s there genuinely gives me some hope for the rest of the year.
But is it right for me to be so excited about something that could potentially turn things around back into the wrong direction?
The past 10 months I’ve had the same conversation with my closest friends about how we can’t wait to be out in public together, hugging, laughing and not living in fear we might infect each other with a virus we still fear.
But it’s opened up some conversations about what we need to keep in mind before we start inviting everyone and their families to the pub come April 12th.
Not Everyone Is Ready For Change
Let’s not choose to be oblivious and ignore the fact that millions of people have died throughout this pandemic. Loved ones, strangers, friends and family; loss has been an all encombasing feelin for so many people.
That level of loss isn’t easy to forget for everyone. It’s not as simple as putting the blinkers on and powering through like so many people seem to think you can in the face of unknown danger.
Now is not the time to put pressure on people who aren’t comfortable with us going back to ‘normal’ yet. There is no room left for telling people that ‘things could be worse just enjoy what you’ve got’ - that has to end.
One Step At A Time
Personally, I am ready for some normality. I have had life change dramatically over the last year, in ways I hadn’t even planned. But I know that some people in my life simply aren’t ready for that, and that’s ok.
I think we need to remember that just because the plans have been laid out in front of us, doesn’t mean we need to adjust our emotions to suit them.
It’s ok to still be feeling extremely or slightly anxious about the future. It’s ok to feel uncertain or scared about things opening up and lockdown ending. We’ve only just gotten our heads around the new version of feeling safe, inside our homes and being away from loved ones for the sake of our health. So jolting back to square one and giving this whole ‘lets reopen the country’ a second round, is understandably going to send some people spiralling.
The key in all of this is to be kind. Be mindful, don’t make assumptions that someone is ok with all of this. Don’t insist that if they just push past their feelings they’ll feel better. Ask if they want to talk about it, find out how they’re feeling instead of assuming.
We’re only on the first day of the third month of the year and we’ve already been through a whirlwind of emotions. So don’t beat yourself up if you’re not jumping for joy amidst this latest news, and just take it one day at a time.
If you’re struggling right now and need someone to talk to, check out SHOUT if you need some help.
Feeling stressed but don’t know why? This is a great resource to help you navigate those feelings.