Expert Advice to Help Us Roll with the Punches

Note: Gritting our teeth isn’t one of them.

Image by Jess Foami from Pixabay

Coping.

We’re all coping and have been coping for months with the pandemic, economy, politics and politicians, bad news, more bad news, and yet more bad news. For many of us, our grit and resilience are running close to empty, and we need new ways of refilling the tank.

Some days we just want to crawl away and hide from everything. We’re done. Grit be damned. Resilience be damned. Yet, we can’t give up; we must keep going for our families and ourselves. The alternative is more dire than the current situation. So, what can we do? How can we rebuild our grit and resilience when we feel like we’re down for the count?

Don’t Grit Your Teeth and Bear It

Have you heard the phrase, “Grit your teeth and bear it.” Many of us — myself included — have been doing that. The dental industry reports higher than normal incidences of tooth fractures and jaw problems since the start of the pandemic.

True grit is our ability to persevere and commit to achieving long-term goals while overcoming difficulties and obstacles without clenching our jaws until we fracture our teeth. It’s demonstrating courage and persistence in the pursuit of a goal and believing that we…