Angela Naeth is a QR professional athlete. This blog is posted in its full on her website here. Below is a synopsis of her original post. 

COVID-19, stay at home advisories, closed businesses, fear, worry, concern, and anxiety. MAKE IT STOP!!! This is the reality we're all living in today.  When I first learned of pools closing, etc. and how this was going to effect me personally, as an athlete, I wasn’t too concerned. I have been thru a lot worse with my own health and Lyme, the unknown. I’ve got this. A flu?!  It can’t be that bad. This won’t last long …A few weeks of downtime will be OK, and simple.  Well, that thinking and thought process sure ended quick!

So what does this mean?  For me, it means staying active, being part of the community - online, writing, coaching remotely, and getting busy with engagement.  We all want to feel safe and secure - for many, our jobs and careers provide that for us. But since many have lost this, and if we wait for the virus to just go away, our mentality is that of a victim.  We (me, you, all of us) need to learn to LIVE with the virus.  This is the test/challenge for all of us. Can you live with this? What are you doing to handle it? CHALLENGE YOURSELF to be proactive, not reactive.

OK, OK, I know where you head might be. This is stuff you ultimately know, right? Be proactive, stay busy, work on myself etc etc … But, do you do it? …Be honest with what you’re doing EVERYDAY, every hour, every minute of your day.   As soon as you start to slip, you can derail, and spiral.  It’s occupying this empty space that needs constant work so you don’t fall into the victim mentality of ego-oriented thinking.

If you stop occupying your mind and engaging in life (your life), fear and despair will creep in - and you’ll continue to spiral, and ultimately try to escape reality - which in and of itself, in my opinion, is simply not living.

So let’s get to our rumination definition, and yup, put all this together, so you get something out of it!

The definition of rumination is: Rumination is the focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress on its possible causes and consequences as opposed to its solutions.

If we can control our thoughts, be rational/logical, and be outside of our emotions that are running high right now, we can be proactive. The goal here is then, focusing on solutions.

Remember things don’t just work out, PEOPLE work it out.  Our life is up to us. COVID-19 isn’t just going to go away. We need to live with it. This doesn’t mean denying how you feel. Be real, cry if need be. But FEAR is not real. It’s created from our thoughts. We have direct control of our thoughts - thoughts create emotions. Emotions create reaction.  If we control our thoughts to create action first, we might just come out of this stronger - mentally, physically, and emotionally.

1. FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS

2. FOCUS ON TASKS

 Just becoming aware of this and talking thru how this is for me, I have been able to stop the spirals.  For me, this includes giving myself tasks EVERYDAY: things that I know will make me a better person for those around me, and the community.

How this looks for me:

Everyday I make a task list, ideas, things I know make me feel productive, part of society in a meaningful way, and give me overall health, and love for life.  I look at this list and make sure I’m focused on tasks, and ideas that I have control over, and well, just start doing them.

Yes, there are days I just don’t want to do anything, and find myself in that ego-though process and emotional despair but, I know the key to get out of it.  I have to make the change. Focus on solutions. Again, things don’t just work out, PEOPLE work out. Our life is up to us.

So here’s my list - and it’s the same, EVERYDAY.

1. Continue my training, and program as a professional triathlete

2. Connect with my community and reach out to family, friends.

3. Use FaceTime, Zoom, meetups and other online platforms to connect with others, and be part of bringing joy and good energy to others

4. Join virtual events and activations

5. Be informed on the news, and work with it by doing my part to help lower the curve of this pandemic.

6. Coach my athletes remotely, with vigor and support.

7. Support and create events/challenges/meetups with @iracelikeagirl team members and the entire endurance triathlon community. Reach as many people as I can to help support others

8. Make dinner nightly. Take my supplements, Athletic Greens, and a salad a day.

9. Be creative (this is my big one!) - the more I write, create avenues for others (check out the BIG INDOOR RIDE CHALLENGE), and find solutions, the better I feel.  The more engaged I am with the process.

10. And finally, Be grateful. I have been using my 21-day awareness journalagain and writing.

Let’s focus on task, focus on solutions, and keep moving forward. I hope to continue working on myself EVERYDAY so I can keep myself (and in doing so, helping others!) healthy - mentally, physically, and emotionally.

I encourage those that find themselves in a spiral, to reach out. Talk to someone. It was the key for me to get out of my own funk. Feel alone, are alone? Happy to connect! Just email me at angelanaeth16@gmail.com. Let’s get thru this together.