self-regulation

‘Tis The Season For Hope – Take 2

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

Almost exactly three years ago to the day, I wrote ‘Tis The Season For Hope. It was December 2020 and we were smack in the middle of the pandemic with no vaccine and dozens of health restrictions all around us.

Times were tense.

Schools had significant changes to their operations — the whole province had restrictions. People were anxious. Emotions were high. I was receiving a ton of email about the pandemic and what we ‘were’ or ‘were not’ doing.

Amongst all of this disruption there was a building sense of calm — of being connected to each other. The Season of Light came to remind us about the many cultural events that begin near the Winter Solstice when November meanders into December — a time when cultures showcase warmth, love and hope with the beauty of light. It was just what we needed as we continued to fight the virus without all of the tools we needed. We needed a break.

Light can do that.

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Napping — We Know It Can Be a Good Thing. But, It Might Be Better Than We Thought

/ Dave Eberwein / Leave a comment

I do not nap.

I’m Impressed by Those Who Nap Successfully

If I ever do close my eyes during the day for a bit, I wake up grumpy and often with a headache.

I sleep at night — not during the day. When I stop to think about how many daytime naps I’ve likely had, I haven’t taken more than about a dozen since I was very young. Other people nap daily and wake up energized and ready to tackle the world.

I do not!

I’m kind of like an electric toy. I’m charged all day, doing a ton of ‘stuff’ — when I’m at home you can find me gardening, doing home repairs, in my workshop, hiking with my dog or doing some housework. I stay occupied and go pretty hard for most of the day. By the time evening rolls around I’m tired, I take out my batteries to recharge, and then I fall asleep.

The next day, I put my fully charged batteries back in and go hard again.

Yet, there are others in my family who if they could take a nap every day they would. I’m amazed at this ability.

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Resilience – Digging Deeper Than We Thought We Could

/ Dave Eberwein / Leave a comment

Human beings possess what some researchers call a psychological immune system, a host of cognitive abilities that enable us to make the best of even the worst situation.

Lara Aknin, Jamil Zaki and Elizabeth Dunn, The Atlantic (July 2021)

We are capable of more than what we probably think we are capable of sustaining. Researchers Aknin, Zaki and Dunn conducted a review of close to 1,000 research studies examining hundreds of thousands of people across nearly 100 countries and they came to a conclusion:

We are remarkably adept at finding solutions to what might appear to be insurmountable problems.

THE MENTAL HEALTH CHECK

You’ve probably heard that the coronavirus pandemic triggered a worldwide mental-health crisis. This narrative took hold almost as quickly as the virus itself. In the spring of 2020, article after article—even an op-ed by one of us—warned of a looming psychological epidemic.

As clinical scientists and research psychologists have pointed out, the coronavirus pandemic has created many conditions that might lead to psychological distress: sudden, widespread disruptions to people’s livelihoods and social connections; millions bereaved; and the most vulnerable subjected to long-lasting hardship. A global collapse in well-being has seemed inevitable.

Lara Aknin, Jamil Zaki and Elizabeth Dunn, The Atlantic (July 2021)

Alarm bells were ringing.

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