FIVE TIPS FOR THE END OF MASK AT SCHOOL
Just as we explained to our children and students how to live with the mask, it would be good now to reflect on how to live without it, to anticipate to understand the emotions we will feel and above all, to have the tools to manage them in the best possible way, especially if we are parents or teachers.
First of all, let’s remember that the MASK has meant for some, suffocation and anguish, but for others (a good majority) there has been a feeling of PROTECTION, of being safe inside. Let’s say it was the REFUGE OF SAFETY.
And now we can take it off. But if we take it off, it is easy for that feeling of PROTECTION, TRANQUILITY and SHELTER to leave.
WHAT CAN IT PROVOKE IN US?
As I said, it depends, for some it will be joy and liberation, but for others it will be fear, or respect, or distrust or insecurity or fear, or all together and mixed up. The important thing is to understand that whatever you feel, it is natural and it is okay. And feeling any of the negative emotions is also logical, because that is what happens to us when they take us out of that kind of shelter that has been the mask for two long years.
WHAT CAN WE DO WHEN WE FEEL THAT FEAR OF REMOVING OUR MASK?
5 ideas:
1° not to get scared or feel bad for being afraid. It is natural. Fear is in charge of keeping us away from danger, real or imaginary. Now the situation has changed thanks to vaccines, doctors and scientists but FEAR NEEDS ITS TIME, let’s be patient and it will diminish.
2° A job we can do is to explain to FEAR that the danger has passed. How? Every time FEAR tells you “What if the virus is in class”, answer “What if it is not? And also ask yourself “What do I want to miss and what don’t I want to miss in the name of fear?”. Let’s think about how many things we like we stop doing just in case, that is, for making the worst possible interpretation.
3° CONCRETE YOUR FEARS in order to make them smaller, since the smaller your fear is, the easier it will be to face it. For example: “Concretely, what am I afraid of when I take off my mask”: taking the Covid, or getting sick, or not going out of the house?
4° Remember courage, the courage we all have in our pockets to face our fears. You can say to yourself “My courage is greater than my fear”, and it will help you to be the one who makes the decisions of your life, and not your fears.
5° And finally, remember that thinking about the future, starting sentences with the typical “What if” (What if we lose the game, What if I fail the exam, etc.) makes us nervous all day long (Anxiety). When that happens, breathe and try to live in the present moment. You can tell yourself “Now is now and later is later”, it will calm you down and also, you will enjoy life more, which, after all, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?