Being alive and truly LIVING are different.
You may be feeling like you’ve put your life on hold since COVID-19 first impacted our community. I know I have. But the reality is that COVID isn’t going anywhere soon.
We need to remember to keep LIVING despite COVID lockdowns and restrictions. We need to find happiness and joy in the experiences we can still safely partake in, and also find this happiness within ourselves.
When every day feels the same as the last, we can try to take any opportunity, no matter how big or small, to truly LIVE.
So if you’re unable to do the things that previously gave you joy or fulfilment, ask yourself - what’s stopping you from finding new ways to adventure?
Changing your frame of mind
COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions mean that for many of us, we’ve been unable to do things that we were so used to doing – working, seeing family and friends, traveling, or holding parties and events.
When we lose the things that have given us purpose or fulfilment, it is completely normal to feel a sense of loss, sadness, anxiety or loneliness.
It can be easy to hold onto these feelings, but if we let them fester we can start to experience long-term negative impacts on our mental health.
Instead, if we change the way we think, perhaps we can stop focusing on what we’ve lost and focus on what we can do to live our life to the full.
This doesn’t mean putting all our negative emotions to the side and pretending they don’t exist. But if we have little or no control over the circumstances of what we have lost, it can feel so empowering to instead focus on the things we do have control over.
Despite the impact of COVID-19 on your life, by changing your frame of mind and looking at the possibilities in front of you, you have the control to stop putting your life on hold and get back to truly living life.
New paths to adventure
We can find ways to truly LIVE during COVID by finding new means of joy and fulfilment in our lives.
We can find this externally (in the activities we do and the people we interact with) or internally (within our spirit).
To find happiness and joy with external activities, you might consider:
- taking up a new hobby
- engaging with family and friends through video calls, holding online events like an online games night, or finding other COVID-safe activities for social interaction
- taking up a volunteer role, or volunteering your time or skills to help someone in your family or community
- going on COVID-safe adventures, such as finding a new place or route to go for a walk, going out to get takeaway, or finding virtual travel experiences online (or through books!)
To find happiness and joy within yourself, you might consider:
- learning something new
- practising meditation and mindfulness
- prayer
- living life purposefully
Gerard Koe, one of our Family Counsellors at CatholicCare Victoria, speaks in depth about how we can find true happiness in his article The pursuit of happiness.
He explores concepts of how we find happiness in our lives, and ways we can find deeper and longer-lasting happiness by looking within.
Read more below!
The pursuit of happiness
Need support?
We know that many families and individuals in our community have been struggling and experiencing extreme hardship during COVID-19. If you are struggling to find enjoyment and happiness in your life, or if you’re struggling to cope with stress, sadness or isolation, speaking with a counsellor can help.
Counselling at CatholicCare Victoria
Liz Gellel | Marketing Coordinator – Digital Lead
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