Coping with Change

“The art of life lies in constant readjustment to our surroundings.” -Kakuzo Okakura

As my son prepares to return to University and work after the Covid-19 lockdown, I once again feel the return of those empty nest feelings. The worries of, “Will he be OK, will he eat right, is he ready to be on his own?”, all came flooding back. It is like reliving the “new normal his dad and I faced when he left the first time. It has dawned on me that we face “new normals” throughout our lives. Empty nest is just another name for the challenge of facing a new normal. Whether the challenge is a child leaving home, changing jobs, or the result of a pandemic, our ways of coping define the moments we face. We all know that change is stressful and over the years we have learned some ways to cope with change. 

Something to think about:

Connect: Think of a time when you went through a tough change in life… Think in detail and even allow yourself to go deeper in thought.

Clarify: How did you positively cope with change in the past? List 3 positive things you did during that time of change (reaching for that glass of Merlot doesn’t count!).  What feelings did you experience? How would you do it differently, if you had the chance to? 

Commit: List your positive coping strategy and adapt it to any changes that you’re facing right now.