Corona....Come on: be strong for a while longer

Pffff…. It will still take a while, this corona period I think. The gloomy messages are flying around your ears. The longer it takes, the greater the consequences and especially the more the emotions play out. Quite logical, of course, because where the lockdown was new last year and we put our shoulders to it, we now have to deal with 15 million opinions and interests.

Whoever shouts the loudest gets the most attention. That's the way it works.

Corona lockdown for young people

When I read about the serious consequences for the young people, I am shocked to death. They are lonely, depressed, sleep and eat poorly and have mental problems. They miss the fun things and need immediate help.

How? I wonder.

Where's the resilience?

The resistance?

Dealing with setbacks and disappointments?

The creativity and the initiative?

Of course, it is a pity for children and young people that they are limited in what they do. It is incredibly important for their development that they interact with peers and that they are challenged in their intellectual development. All this is now under a lot of pressure. But is that a reason to get sad and depressed? While so many technology and socials surround them and how they lack nothing essential?

Are we dealing with a generation spoiled to the bone?

What are the adults doing?

What I notice is that adults in particular argue that the young people are having such a hard time and how bad this is. Young people are complained and there are parents who no longer know what to do.

Parents find it more difficult to limit their children in terms of rules and behavior. Teenagers now mainly have only parents and brothers and sisters to sharpen themselves. This is certainly not easy in many families. After all, parents also have to fix their own work somewhere and with a grouchy or gloomy child around you, you have a tough task.

The media mainly pays attention to young people who are having such a hard time during this corona lockdown where there is too little help available. I sincerely wonder if this reporting is not exaggerated.

What gets attention grows.

When questions are asked about how bad it is, you also get answers that match.

This is very recognizable for readers and viewers, but is it the whole story? Where are the wonderful stories about how children and young people survive?

How do you keep up with the corona lockdown?

For most children and their parents, there will be no alternative to accepting the situation as it is. Difficult and tedious as it may be, none of us have the influence or the power to change anything right now.

When you realize you're dealing with this, you can make a choice. Do you want to fight a losing battle, do you want to feel like a victim or do you want to see what is possible.

Zoom out

What can help is to zoom out with your family. You can even do it digitally for fun :-). Ask yourself how you would like to look back on this period in 15 years: What do you tell your grandchildren about how you managed to survive?

What was most important to you?

What actions have you taken to make it a special time?

What was your way of thinking?

How did you solve the difficulties?

In this way you take a step back from the daily hassle and open up more opportunities to come up with plans and initiatives to feel better.

Zoom in

What you can also do is look at the past and discover how you dealt with setbacks and happy family moments before. You zoom in on your talents and what works.

How have you cope with previous difficulties?

What did you think or do to get out of trouble?

What were your kids good at when they were little?

What were your very best family moments, and what were you doing and thinking then?

When you think back to the best moments in your history, you will discover what works for you to put you in a better mood.

Your needs

Finally, you can investigate how you meet your basic needs that apply to every person, namely connection, competence and autonomy.

Who can you help in this difficult period and therefore be of importance to someone else or a larger whole?

What are your talents and the actions you are proud of that will help you survive in this day and age?

How do you let your children decide for themselves what they can do for themselves and take their responsibilities?

The fact is, you will feel better and can move forward if you can fulfill these three basic needs. Take a look around you because there are certainly children and parents in your area who thrive from your help and attention.

What do you choose?

It sounds corny and like an open door, and yet it is true: Every second you can choose how to deal with a situation. Of course it is good to reflect on your misery and not run away from your fear and anger. There are.

And yet you can make a choice afterwards.

Are you going for:

- White or black

- positive or negative

-red or green

- forward or backward

- down or happy

Perhaps it can help to regularly jot down with your family what you are happy and grateful for. It has been amply proven that if you write down a number of things every day that you are happy with, it has a long-term positive effect on your mood. And sometimes it can't be more than the roof over your head, or the friendly greeting from a passerby. It is what there is.

The choice is yours

Set the example for your children and take them into this flow. Stay realistic because there is nothing more exhausting and depressing than being optimistic at all costs. The balance between the two poles makes it workable because then you learn to pull yourself out of the swamp again.