How To Fill Your Cup During Uncertain Times

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If your friend desperately needed a ride, you’d gladly drive them from Duluth to Dallas. However, you wouldn’t get very far if your tank was empty. This example illustrates the principle that you can’t pour from an empty cup. How can you fill your cup now, as COVID-19 continues to ravage the country, claiming lives and disrupting others? It might seem challenging, but draw some inspiration from the following activities that nurture your body, mind, and soul.

If you feel lousy physically, it’s next-to-impossible to give your best to others. Here are some activities that you can follow during this quarantine period, that address your physical needs.

Exercise

If your jurisdiction restricts going outside, don’t worry. Due to the pandemic, quite a few fitness apps now offer specials to new customers. You can find anything from HIIT to dance to Pilates. You can also find free exercise videos streaming on YouTube.

Take your medication

If you take prescription medications, make sure that you have enough to support your physical and mental health. This compliance is critical, especially if you have mental health disorders, and the stress of the pandemic exacerbates your symptoms. Seek out new ways to attend support groups and therapy appointments online.

Nourish yourself

You might feel tempted to overindulge in unhealthy foods and drink during this time. However, doing so will only make you feel worse in the long run. Do allow yourself the occasional cheat meal, but primarily focus on plant-based meals high in nutritional value.

Get dressed and groom yourself

You’re not going anywhere, so why bother with a shower? It might make you feel more like yourself, that’s why. Research indicates that the act of grooming sets you in motion to feel better — an unkempt appearance is a sign of depression. Combing your hair might not act as a magic bullet, but it can make you feel better when you pass a mirror.

Activities to feed your mind

Your brain needs intellectual stimulation. It’s one reason that experts recommend that seniors do crosswords and other puzzles to keep their minds sharp. Keeping your mind occupied can distract you from your troubles.

Learn a new language

You can find tons of language learning apps to master the new tongue of your choice. Many apps, such as Mondly and Busuu, empower users to choose various languages to learn for one price. Lose yourself in Spanish or French so that when the borders open, you can take a holiday and converse with the natives.

Read

There’s no better time to spend the entire afternoon losing yourself in a juicy novel. If the weather cooperates, take some lemonade out to your back porch hammock and immerse yourself.

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Cultivate a unique skill

Have you ever wanted to strum the ukulele like Israel Kamakawiwo’ole? You can learn this skill for free on YouTube, along with a host of other tricks. Have you always wanted to get better at basic carpentry tasks? Use this quarantine to teach yourself how to swing a mean hammer.

Work on a challenging puzzle

Now is the time to tackle the pesky New York Times crossword — with a pen, if you’re brave. If you don’t like words much, why not try a challenging online Sudoku puzzle? You can also break out the board versions and try your luck at assembling a recreation of famous paintings or landscape scenes.

Activities to nurture your soul

Human beings are more than the mind and body. Regardless of your faith or lack thereof, you can nurture your soul with activities like the following.

Practice meditation

You don’t need to spend a dime on starting a meditation practice. All you need is a quiet place where you can focus on your breath. Eventually, your mind will begin to wander — gently redirect your attention to your inhales and exhales.

Pray

If your faith takes a negative attitude toward meditation, that’s okay. You can reap many benefits from prayer. You can use this time to read your Bible or Quran and reflect on the teachings within.

Tend to your garden

Gardening puts you in touch with the cycle of life. If your local nursery is closed due to the Coronavirus, you can save the seeds from your produce to start some seedlings indoors. Outside, you can prep your beds for planting and fill patio containers with potting soil. If it isn’t quite the season where you live, it will be soon. You can still get outdoors in your yard, and the fresh air and sunshine will revitalize you.

Spend time with pets

Pets offer unconditional love, something that more folks could sorely use during this time. They don’t care if you don’t have money because you lost your job. They also won’t judge you if you have put off laundry too long. If you don’t have a furry buddy, check your local shelter — they may have adoption deals due to the pandemic.

Embrace these activities to fill your cup during times of uncertainty

It’s challenging to practice self-care when the world seems to have dissolved into chaos. However, this, too, shall pass, and filling your cup now means that you’ll have plenty spilling over to give others when it does.

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