War! Maybe it will be world war three. Pandemic! The news is full of scary stuff. Here is some ideas on how to cope.
Limit news viewing The first time that I had to find a way to cope with scary news was 9/11/2001. I was glued to the news. I finally had to go for a walk just to disconnect from the constant news watching. While I wanted to know what was happening, I discovered that I needed to take breaks.
Look for the helpers or heros ‘When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me,”Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”‘ Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) I have found that focusing on the helpers and heros helps me to feel hopeful. Yesterday, I wrote an article about some of the heros in the Russia Ukraine war. I have also found some stories about people helping. The Rachel Maddow show shared the story of a German offering rides at the border. Uber is offering free rides at the Poland border. People are renting Airbnbs in Ukraine as a way to send money to people dealing with the war.
Find a way to help if possible The previous paragraph mentioned some ways that people have found to help. There are plenty of other ways. Here is a list of charities helping Ukraine. I haven’t found a way for me at this time. I am saving money in prep for my upcoming lay off in May. So, I am limiting my giving to my church. Yet, I think finding a way to help can help with the feelings of helplessness.
Help others to cope This is what I am hoping to do through this post. This can be as simple as allowing someone to talk about their feelings about all of the scary stuff in the news. My dad and I talked for a while about this. It could be encouraging someone at work.
Sense of humor It may seem like laughing at scary news is mean. But, listening to coronavirus parody songs helped me to get through ten days of self isolating due to having Covid-19. I started playing a game of dancing to the songs and seeing how long I could last before I had to stop to cough. It was a fun way to see that the cough was weakening. It also can remind you and me that we are all experiencing similar feelings.
We are all in this together. We may only be watching but we are still feeling strong emotions in response to it.