Over the years, I've had many different people tell me that I'm pretty hard on myself. This type of conversation has typically made its way to the forefront when I've gone to friends and family for advice in times of trouble, and I continuously get the same result. Though I might have found it to be true, it's never something that I want to hear. To me, I never look at my behaviors as being hard on myself. My thought process is simply my way of life. Yet, after experiencing these many weeks in quarantine, I'm starting to understand that these words hold more meaning than I once thought. I am too hard on myself, and considering everything our world is living with now, I would offer the same advice - don't be too hard on yourself.

On a regular day, I find it very easy to be critical of myself for everything that I cannot change. I like to have control of situations that directly affect me, and when things are not going as planned I love to take responsibility - even for things that are completely out of my control. Throughout quarantine, I am finding it even easier to take responsibility for every aspect of my life that is not going as planned, no matter how hard I try or how much effort I put in. Instead of taking the approach that things are simply not working in my favor or that maybe I am not destined to achieve certain goals, I have re-evaluated my negative thought process and tried to put things into perspective. The world is anything but normal right now, so how can I expect my everyday life to be? Why am I being so hard on myself if everything is up for grabs and out of my control?

It is with this with that I encourage you to rest your mind during this time. We are all scared, we are all anxious and we are all frustrated with the current state of the world. That alone is enough to focus our energy on, be it good or bad. Now is not the time to take on any unnecessary challenges or struggles, and now is not the time to beat yourself up over personal circumstances that you might be unhappy with. Not much is in our control at the moment, but instead we can use our energy to normalize new routines at home and do our best to stay connected to the ones we love and miss. Now more than ever, health and safety are first priorities. Now more than ever is not the time to be hard on yourself.