I Have Anxiety. This is How I’m Dealing With the Coronavirus Outbreak

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This is how I’m navigating the coronavirus outbreak with anxiety.

Hey mamas! I haven’t written in a while and with everything that’s going on in the world right now, I guess I haven’t been really sure where to start or jump back in. I’ve remained active on most social media platforms and have really focused on re-sharing things on Facebook and Pinterest, especially, that I’ve written in the past that will help parents navigate getting through the day right now. I want to fill your feeds with as many service pieces as possible because we’re all in this together and let’s face it – these are challenging times.

There are a lot of things that are bothering me right now that I’m trying to work through, as I’m sure you all are, too.

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First things first, I have anxiety and as much as it might not look like it to my family (lol), I am working extremely hard to keep it under control through these incredibly uncertain times.

As a small business owner who has campaigns being cancelled and postponted, income that my family and I are relying on, things are tough. I keep reading in all of my marketing groups how important it is to keep moving forward with your business and constantly promote your business right now and that gives my anxiety all in it’s own way. For me, whenever the going gets tough, I tend to retract a bit. I stop writing because the inspiration isn’t there. I share less of what’s going on in our lives because I just need to focus on my family and for me right now, that takes presidence over everything else.

As a mom and a wife, I’m constantly worried about anything happening to my family. It’s very scary. I started out not so worried and then here we are today, a week in, not knowing if Branden’s 3 weeks off from school will turn into more and my husband having a job that still requires him to work outside of our home, and I’m feeling that heavy weight of worry every moment. This is uncharted terretory and as a person who thrives when everything is organized and I always know what’s next, each day is a challenge.

So how am I navigtating the coronavirius outbreak with anxiety?

Honestly: one freaking day at a time.

I observe all of these amazing Facebook groups that have been created to help parents adjust to the kids being home, homeschooling, and of course – how to keep them from snacking all day long, and I’ve had to make the choice to kinda of tune out that noise. I know that this can be so helpful to many and I’m so happy these resources are available for you all, but for me, it just adds stress.

Why? Because they make me focus on all of these things that the world is telling me that I “should” be doing, when right now just being together and looking forward to movie time and ordering in from our favorite local restaurants is the medicine that I need.

I decided right from the start, with the help of my amazing husband who always knows how to help calm me down, that we would not put extra pressure on ourselves or our kids right now.

Blake has no clue what’s going on and Branden is old enough to be able to log into his Google classroom and do his daily assignemnts himself (thank God), and that’s good enough for me right now.

When it comes to work, I’m sort of doing the bare minium right now. This whole situation is teaching me that I can walk away from the computer and that my whole world won’t fall apart.

Chris and are are taking more time for us to just make up for so much lost time from him typically working so much (he’s currently on vacation from work and will go back soon). It’s been lovely and this time with him is so much more important than me sitting and typing all day long.

I’m realizing and learning to accept that with my anxiety I will have these bursts of energy and I need to use those moments to get up and write or workout and use that time to the absolute best of my ability. I’m also learning that it takes time for me to recover from those bursts of energy. I might have a whole week where I feel on top of the world, and then it takes me two weeks to be still and recover. I’m learning everyday how to try not to bully myself about this.

I’m working out almost everyday. Evern though my eating isn’t the greatest right now, I’m staying balanced by still intermittent fasting most days and jumping on the treadmill for an hour almost everyday. Working out plays a huge role in my mental health. Running is totally my therapy.

I’m sanitizing as much as I can and teaching the kids to do it, too, and I feel like that and keeping them at home is really the only control that I have over what’s going on in the world and I keep reminding myself that I have to be okay with that.

The point of all of this is to remind you all that you have to do what works best for you during these crazy times. If you want to be a superstar homeschool mom, then do it. If you, like me, need to just do what you feel up to each day, then do that. Right now it really, truly is all doing what makes you happy.

XOXO,

Allison