Changing Seasons

#worldmentalhealthday #changingseason #autumn #change #adapting

This year, as I watch the leaves change colour, I am thinking about the way life has changed for so many people around the world in different ways. There have been some big changes in my own life recently, and the autumn leaves this year are more significant than they have ever been. Events around the world, the way we work or go to school, changes in our families, have all had a big impact on our lives. Whether you have a support network, or you are managing these changes on your own, catching up with the change, adapting to it and normalising it in your life can have a toll on your emotional well-being. 

When seasons change we naturally change our habits with them. From Summer to Autumn to Winter we change how we dress, how much time we spend indoors vs outdoors and even our food and drink choices may change. It might seem that we are able to adapt to the seasons effortlessly, however it is years of training from the day we were born that has conditioned us into these habits. As children we might have enjoyed covering up for winter and then objected to summer wear, or even the opposite might have been the case. But as we grew older we learned our lesson, by either feeling cold because we didn’t cover up or feeling too hot because we wore too much. 

It is easy to adapt and deal with changes that you know are coming your way. It is the changes that pull the rug from under your feet that leave you bereft. When the rug has been swept from under your feet it is not possible to stay standing. Everyone falls. It’s what you do after the fall that counts. In 2020 the whole world fell together. We all managed. We changed. We adapted and did what was needed to carry on. Those that could, worked from home, schooled from home and stayed at home. Those on the front lines carried on in spite of the hardships. All of this has taken an emotional toll. You have dealt with stress, anxiety, uncertainty, change, loss, fear and much more. And for the most part you have dealt with it all on your own, in isolation. What kind of support do you need now to be able to join the post pandemic world?

The seasons are changing again, yet the emotions remain. What are your strategies when it comes to processing the path set before you? You could journal your thoughts, make lists, do breathing exercises and much more. Or you could talk it out with someone. A client recently contacted me to look back at the past 18 months of their life and fill me in on all the positive changes. We had started the coaching journey at the beginning of the pandemic, and it was a session right at the peak of infections and lockdowns that was the turning point for this client. The turning point was a conversation, the positive change was the client doing the work. 

What positive changes would you like to see happen in your life as 2021 nears its end and 2022 looms ahead? 

Think about it. Write it all down. And come and have a friendly conversation.