How to Adapt, Evolve, and Rise Above the Stress of Uncertain Times
Building inner peace and resilience amidst changing conditions requires three key elements
As the COVID-19 cases started to rise again with the omicron variant reaching my city and my university decided to terminate the rest of December’s scheduled in-person exams, I started to feel my heart pounding and my blood boiling. This can’t be happening! I thought to myself.
A few minutes later I heard the dreaded ding in my inbox from my professor. I hurriedly opened the email and felt a wave of horrified numbness wash over me when my gaze fell upon the words “the exam will be postponed for a date in January.”
When I am stressed, I get particularly resistant to the prospect of change and uncertainty, even if it is over a relatively minor stressor. Aside from fear, at that moment I also started to feel frustration melded with fury. Why me? I wondered. I was so close to finishing the term! How was I going to relax and enjoy the holidays at the thought of this exam vaguely looming somewhere on the horizon?
Systems of blame versus systems of resilience
When we are faced with unexpected situations that we can’t control, one of our first instincts is to…
