No matter where you live these days, you are probably seeing and hearing more information about the country reopening. People are beginning to travel again, starting to see family and friends again and restarting with a new sense of normalcy. If you’re like most people, you are probably feeling a mix of excitement and anxiety when it comes to handling the new normal. Whether you’re vaccinated or not, re-entering society can leave you worried about being overwhelmed or saying yes to too many things. However, if you’ve been employing some mindfulness strategies lately, you can put them to work for you as you begin socializing with others again. Here are some quick tips to help you hang onto both your sanity and your priorities:
Pause and Check In With Your Values
While the past year or so has brought many tragedies, it may also have helped you to become very clear about the things that are most important to you. In the loud and busy world pre-pandemic, you may have had trouble zeroing in on your core values, but the increased alone time brought clarity like you’d never felt before. Now that you are beginning to return to a faster pace of life again, try using some mindfulness practices to ensure that you’re sticking by the values that are most important to you. Try taking a moment in the mornings or at lunch time to think about your day and whether the activities you have planned actually match up with the things that are most important to you.
Notice How You’re Spending Your Time
Along with the increase in restaurant and movie theater capacities comes more opportunities for you to add more events to your calendar. While you don’t necessarily need to make any drastic changes, using your mindfulness strategies in this situation can mean simply taking the opportunity to notice where and how you are now spending your time. Your social activities may be exactly what you’ve dreamed of doing for the past year or so. On the flip side, your schedule may feel like “too much, too soon” for you. Watching where your time is going and how it makes you feel can help you to make future changes as needed.
Keep an Eye on Your Wallet
When you’re spending more time outside your home, you may also be spending more money outside of your home. While this isn’t true of everyone, it’s a wise idea to schedule a short financial check-in every few days or once a week. Taking a brief look at your finances lets you utilize mindfulness strategies to notice how your money is being spent and how you are feeling about your current spending habits. It can be incredibly easy to jump headfirst into the reopening
