Why It's STILL Ok To Not Be Ok
/Earlier this year, I wrote the below blog “Why It’s Ok To Not Be Ok”. Many states were shut down due to COVID, restaurants weren’t open, and everything was being cancelled. Life was hard back then, but it’s still hard now. I am sure many of you (me included!) were hoping we’d be “back to normal” by now, were hoping for a “normal” Thanksgiving, and are disappointed that we are not. We are in the holiday season, and many are unsure how to navigate keeping social distancing and mask wearing in mind. Infection rates are rising, and many fear another shut down.
In the midst of so much uncertainty, I want to again encourage you to do the best you can and then give yourself a break. No one expects perfection right now. If anything, this year has perhaps taught us all about flexibility, empathy, understanding, and giving one another grace! I invite you to:
Do the best you can with work as it is right now.
Do the best you can to with managing your children’s school, whatever that might look like right now.
Do the best you can to take care of not just your physical health, but your mental health as well.
Life has certainly been hard this year, and it continues to be hard, but let’s work together to encourage each other through this. And, if you are struggling with caring for your mental well-being, please reach out to us.
(Resharing!)
Why It's Ok To Not Be Ok
This is a weird space we are in isn’t it? Our world drastically shrunk more than 2 months ago. Proms, graduations, school, weddings, funerals, sporting events…all abruptly cancelled due to COVID-19. Our children are home from school. We are home from work. We are all dealing with a life-threatening virus that no one seems to know how to detect or treat. Whoa.
It seems like science fiction movie, but it’s real life. It’s a real life not many, if any of us, had ever planned for or envisioned. So, we are stuck trying to make do, trying to get things done, trying to juggle all these plates that were just thrown at us. And best of all, we never had any juggling lessons!
Then we wonder why we are having trouble sleeping, or are irritable and lashing out at our spouse or kids, or lack motivation to get out of bed in the morning. We wonder why our minds are racing and why we feel more emotional lately.
Let’s take a moment to breathe. Let me say the feelings you are having right now are completely valid! The best way to deal with them is to acknowledge that. Acknowledge that you shouldn’t have it all together right now. Acknowledge that this is HARD. Admit you miss your parents. Admit you miss your friends. Admit you are sad you won’t see your child walk across the stage at graduation.
It’s ok to be doing this quarantine thing in a messy way. It’s ok to be barely making it out of bed in the morning. It’s ok to be so scared to leave your house that you don’t. It’s ok to be doing the best you can and then wondering if that’s even good enough. Give yourself grace while we are all figuring this out. And tell yourself : it’s ok to not be ok. This might mean shifting your expectations of yourself (see this blog here on tips for how to do that). Your tendency to be an overachiever or a perfectionist might not be necessary right now. I encourage you to give yourself some space to adapt and adjust, as we transition to this new world.
And, I encourage you to consider therapy to help support you right now. Most insurances are covering online therapy and some are even waiving client responsibly, so it might cost you nothing! Our practice is accepting new clients, and we have morning, afternoon, and evening appointments available. Just remember - you don’t have to do this alone.
The mental health therapists at our office offer counseling for a variety of issues including trauma using EMDR, depression, anxiety, grief, and couples counseling. We work with teens, adults, and couples. We also offer online counseling services which can be great for people with busy schedules or for people who live in parts of Pennsylvania with limited counseling options. You can check out our website to see the full list of counseling services that we offer. Or, Request An Appointment here.