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Published: 11 August 2020

Grief is a typical human experience, but the COVID-19 pandemic has upended many of the ways we usually manage the loss. Here are my tips on coping healthily with your grief. 

Grief is one of those emotions that many of us think of only during the loss of a loved one. And while this is the grief, many of us experience grief, and the grieving process, can happen whenever we have a loss. 

During COVID-19, we have experienced many deaths, and those events elicit feelings of grief, but almost everyone has experienced loss due to the coronavirus. We have lost employment, lost freedom of movement lost ability to meet with family and friends as we used to, and lost a sense of control over our lives. All of these are losses that can lead us to feel grief. 

The Mayo Clinic reports that "In addition to feeling grief over the loss of life caused by COVID-19, you're likely grieving the loss of your normal routine." Check out my article on this topic written a couple of months ago by clicking here. 

"Not only are people now grappling with the loss of normalcy, but also with anticipatory grief, or…

Read more: How To Healthily Cope With Grief During Covid-19

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Published: 13 July 2020

Why aren't you happy? This is a question we often ask ourselves, answering ourselves with excuses we tell ourselves. Can I be happy? Sure, you can, but are you sure you want to be happy? 

I find that today, listening to the news and hearing people bickering about politics is not easy to be happy. Even if I am happy, once I hear about more violence in the country, I'm no longer happy. So why aren't you happy? Try to be happy in today's culture!

Fair observation. Outside forces and experiences can and do take away our happiness. Being happy isn't always easy, but it does happen. You may want to check out a previous article of mine I titled: "Happiness Is Not The Answer But Here's What Is."  

In that article, I wrote: "Happiness is a fleeting emotion which comes and goes. As such, happiness can't be a life goal. This is why I don't encourage people to seek happiness as a life goal." My premise is that we need to focus on inner peace instead of a fleeting of happiness. But for the purpose of this article, I'm content with using the word happy. 

Many…

Read more: Why Aren’t You Happy? How To Change That

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Published: 29 June 2020

Angry at society appears to be the primary emotion of our time. As this angry feeling festers, it can lead to feeling hatred. Yes, there is also kindness found in society, and I do know people who are not angry. What can we do with our angry emotions so that we can turn them into a sense of being peaceful, and we don't end up feeling hatred?

Angry at society? Why is there so much anger? We see it in the streets, in demonstrations, on social media, etc. I have my theories, but the focus of this article is not on the why, or the origin, of the anger. Instead, I write this article on anger from the perspective of mindfulness. 

In mindfulness, we are urged to remain in the moment, non judgmentally. Following that suggestion, I don't necessarily need to understand why someone is angry. Assuming anger is taking a person from their peace, I guide that person to shift their perspective and so take action in the hopes of returning that person to a sense of peace.

As a counselor and practitioner of mindfulness, I don't perceive anger as either positive or negative. The feeling is the…

Read more: Angry At Society - how to feel peaceful not hatred

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Published: 15 June 2020

I’m re-writing this article to help me process my feelings and mental struggles with all that is happening in my country. I originally wrote this piece back in 2015, yet I feel it remains appropriate for 2020. I, and others, struggle with a response to what we are feeling as there are so many diverse feelings at the same time. How do we process, in a healthy way, that which we feel powerless over? 

A conversation between the Optimist and the Realist

In my life, I strive to be an optimistic person, although, I think I end up somewhere in the middle between being an optimist and a pessimist. This middle area I like to refer to as "being a realist".  I’m fine with being a realist as I feel it keeps me grounded in what is happening around me and in the larger world; the good and the bad. Although, a problem in being a realist is there is little room for making a change to the events which are happening. The optimist sees potential for change while the realist simply sees what is.

The realist

Recently there’s been an onslaught of negative news in all of the media…

Read more: How To Cope And Positively Make A Difference In Society