Have you ever experienced jet lag? I sure have. You feel exhausted, you move at a slower pace and you have a hard time getting back to your normal routine. COVID can make us feel like that. We were tired before and COVID has heaped on more job loss, sickness, fear and anxiety. People are tired, anxious, moving at a slower pace and they just want to get back to their normal routine. I call this life lag. Do you feel life lag?
Years ago, we had an exhausting 23-hour adventure getting home from a family holiday. As we were challenged by cancelled flights and long layovers, we were also receiving texts from our pet sitter saying that our cat was very sick. We arrived home in the middle of the night. I took one look at our sweet little pet and I knew, something was terribly wrong. An hour later I was sitting at an emergency vet clinic with a diagnosis that there was nothing they could do
to save her. On top of my jet lag, life had just hit.
So, what did I do? Exactly what we should be doing during COVID.
I cleared everything off my long list that would add unnecessary stress to my life and that did not matter and I focused on ruthless self-care. I knew I could not be a depleted mom and be a support to my depleted family at the same time. I slept a lot. I prepared nourishing meals 90% of the time and I ordered food in on 10% days. I fought my usual coping mechanism to keep busy and instead we made a long list of fun things each of us wanted to do. We snuggled on
the couch and watched happy movies each evening. We talked a lot about how we felt and we cried when we needed to cry.
What do you do to overcome your jet lag? Do you nap? Are you kinder to yourself and those you love? Do you slow things down? Why not do that now?
We need to take care of ourselves and the people we love so we can overcome life lag and get back to our normal routine.
Take care of you!
