Staying Healthy in an Unhealthy Situation
By Josh Spurlock in Chi Alpha Connection, Healthy Leaders, and Student
The pandemic has altered the way we have lived in the past year and forced us to come face-to-face with a reality that many thought would quickly blow over. Daily routines were traded for new ones or simply having a lack of routine became typical. In the midst of this, it’s important to continue to care for your overall health and well-being.
Being in a crisis like this one brings on grief; things that were possible may no longer be a safe option. Instead of
running away or distracting ourselves from it, it’s best to lean into this grief. Grief helps us to come to terms with the situation and that is how we get through to acceptance, which then allows us to come to peace with a scenario. In that peace, we can navigate the realities of our situation better. The stress hormones associated with anxiety and fear suppress our immune system, thereby making us more susceptible to sickness and weakening our ability to fight it off. This strategy of facing grief better equips us to overcome the challenge we’re in to begin with.
Taking care of your own overall health will help you take care of others and their well-being also. If you’re taking care of yourself effectively, it will help you be calm, collected, and have low anxiety, which will allow you to be in community with those in your household to help them do the same.
Find a disciplined approach to tend to the things that really matter like sleep, nutritious food, restorative activities, spiritual engagement, and exercise, but especially community. Prioritizing relationships over task is the key to coming out the other side of this pandemic in the healthiest position possible, so that we can be most effective in extending the kingdom of God.
All views expressed on this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, U.S.A., U.S. Missions, and The General Council of the Assemblies of God.