Staying sane and safe in these uncertain, pressured, anxious days

The normal life right now is one that attempts to manage an insane number of priorities, tasks, burdens and relationships — which seems the requirement for life in this Covid time.  If life wasn’t insane before, it has certainly become that now.

Nobody ever wants to normalise insanity, and we certainly don’t make light of it, but so many are battling with the incessant combination of balls to be kept in the air, all seemingly very much in competition with one another.

Sustaining ourselves amid the frenetic unceasing demands is the key issue for so many people.

There are the time-and-attention demands where people must balance home and work, children’s care with work tasks, and an increasing number of things they cannot switch off from.

There are the financial demands, and if there’s ever anything that drives us straight to the edge, it’s the lack of money or an insecure supply of it, particularly when there are unrelenting institutional demands.  There’s nothing quite like a lack of money or being broke — or so much worse, in debt — to send a person to despair.  Money equals resources and when we don’t have access to the resources we need, our living hope flashes off in a millisecond.

There are the employment demands, and not just lack of work, though that’s probably the biggest issue, especially when there’s nothing you can do about it.

But with work, there are a number of issues just as serious as not having work.  For instance, work intensity, whether it can be helped or not, where people are literally burning out from month after month of relentless service.  And there are also the complications that go with doing any work remotely and flexibly.  Those watercooler chats don’t happen like they used to.  And we haven’t even touched on the conflict that comes between employees and employers, between employees, etc.

There are the social demands where loneliness is the tip of the iceberg as far as issues is concerned. These demands that impact our mental health viscerally and suddenly are far more complex than stereotypical loneliness.

There are so many inherent social dysfunctions in our way of life in this pandemic era.  Managing the social and psychological needs of our children is one complication that often seems so far out of our control — scary as that is to say.

Having read all the above, whether I’ve identified your particular version of craziness or not, I hope you’ll be encouraged that the way you feel is normal for such a time as this.

God would want you to know that, if you can hold on in faith, respite will come, even as you press into whatever support will get you through one day at a time.  Moments and entire seasons of weakness call for the humility to reach out in prayer and to other more tangible support.  Even if it’s again and again and again that we do it.  Anything to keep you afloat.

Maintaining hope at a time like this, especially when there are children watching on, waiting for parents to provide safety, vision and direction, is tough.  It can feel impossible.

I can’t say much to change your lot, but I can say you’re not alone, you’re not the only one confused and overwhelmed, and you’re not the only one exhausted — though it’s normal to feel you’re the only one.

You are also not the only one who feels rather mental, full of doubt, confidence shattered, feeling vulnerable and completely exposed before your world.

What I can say is employ what has worked for others: take life one day at a time, and where necessary, each moment.  Get through them one by one, not attempting too much at once.  When life is especially overwhelming, focus on one important thing to do and try not to be driven from one crisis to the next.  Your satisfaction will increase if you can do the important thing, and urgent things will always be there.

Image by Hillie Chan on Unsplash