Need help staying positive - anyone else

[Beeth0ven]

I think I’m a fairly optimistic and resilient person. But I’m really, really struggling with life during COVID at the moment. I feel like nothing has any purpose. I’m lucky to still have a job and yet I’m beginning to hate it. I decorated my bedroom which felt good but I’ve finished now. Life is an endless cycle of working, cleaning, cooking, childcare and I feel very low. Like we have no future.

I’m sure I’m not alone.

How are others remaining positive? I’d love some tips.

I find the key is to try to accept that life is a mundane, dreary struggle. Life is an endless struggle for many/most people. Get up, work, clean, cook, clean, work. If you're lucky you might get half an hour to watch TV. The best advice I was given was to accept that no matter how bad I feel life is now, it's only likely to get worse. Friends will die, my body will become frailer, I will get more worn down and worn out. You can't change the fact that we are all doomed eventually, so try to live in the moment. One of the most liberating moments in my life was when I realised that actually, I don't need to give a fuck about cutting down my use of single use plastics or bothering to recycle: live for the moment, not the fear of what the future will be.

You should read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. It's about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, the atrocities he saw and the way he managed to mentally survive. I found it very helpful because a lot of lessons could be applied to my situation (different to his, but equally bad).