PEORIA, Ill. — As Illinois moves into the next phase of the Restore Illinois Plan and talks about the next phase surface, how do you mentally cope?
Dr. Steven Hamon, President of The Antioch Group, said in a time when you do not know where the end is, to live in the moment.
“The mind is kind of programmed to try to predict the future with absent data, which humans are not very good at doing, they can only predict their worst fear,” Hamon said.
Hamon said it is better to think of what you can do in these moments.
“What am I doing right now to make this a better place today, rather than when I got up this morning,” Hamon said.
“What can I do right now among the people I’m living with, among the people I meet, among groups I might be drawn to help? What can I do right this moment?”
With people staying home more during the first phases of Restore Illinois, people’s motivations dropped off. Hamon said we are used to a more high paced lifestyle, and COVID-19 has slowed that down.
But, it is still important for your physical health to keep yourself mentally healthy.
“We have to re-key and keep our intentions strong, that every day I’ve got to burn off, in some way, some of the stress chemicals building up inside me,” Hamon said.
Once people were encouraged to stay home, free time allowed for that book that meant to be read, cleaning and organizing that room that has not been touched, or other activities that still have not been done.
Look for ways to re-key motivations to a slower pace. Hamon recommends buddying up with someone to help keep each other accountable.
“And say hey, we’re both going to clean our basements like we said we were when this all started,” Hamon said.
Hamon said it is important for physical and mental health to still participate in activities.
The world is in a time of unknowns and conflicting information. It is unknown when COVID-19 will be a thing of the past and when life can resume back to what we are used to.
Hamon encourages people to “pick your tribe wisely”.
“Pick your tribe based on equally shared values, the golden rule, try to stay away from us verses them, because one day you might be them,” Hamon said.
“And, really go for we the people.”
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