{"id":2409,"date":"2022-01-24T15:36:01","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T20:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2022-01-26T09:21:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T14:21:19","slug":"a-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2022\/01\/24\/a-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

By John Schorling<\/strong><\/p>\n

A new year has begun, one in which many of us hoped the COVID-19 pandemic would be behind us.\u00a0 Instead, we find ourselves in another surge, with more people having become infected than ever.\u00a0 Fortunately, illness caused by Omicron, the current predominant strain, seems less severe than prior variants. Despite this, because so many people have become infected, healthcare facilities are once again stressed, and those who work in them are having to care for more patients than ever, often with fewer staff due to healthcare workers becoming infected themselves as well as the number of people who have left the field during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The amount of suffering caused by the pandemic has been and continues to be profound, affecting those infected by the virus, those caring for those who were infected, and those whose lives have been impacted in so many other ways.\u00a0 In the midst of all this, it can be helpful to pause to acknowledge our present moment experience.\u00a0 We might be grieving for the loss of someone we loved, or the loss of our own health.\u00a0 We might be feeling the impact of the pandemic in other ways, the loss of getting together with people we care about, or the loss of doing things we enjoy.\u00a0 We might feel guilty because of the choices we have made for ourselves, or feel anger regarding the choices that others have made.\u00a0 We also might feel grateful that we or others we care about still have their health, or that as bad as things are, they might have been worse had Omicron been as deadly as Delta.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the circumstances, we can pause to just notice what\u2019s present right now.\u00a0 What do we notice in the body, what feelings are present, what thoughts are arising?\u00a0 And can we just notice our present moment experience with kindness and compassion for ourselves? These times are trying, and most of us wish things were different than they are.\u00a0 Yet in this moment things are as they are, and wishing they were different does not make them so.\u00a0 For just a few moments, is it possible to let go of thinking about the past and how things might have been, or thinking about the future and how we hope things will be, to just acknowledge things as they are, without any need to fix anything or change anything?\u00a0 Perhaps just focusing on the pause between the outbreath and the inbreath, noticing the moment of stillness there.<\/p>\n

We are all connected in this pandemic, including with those who we might not agree with,\u00a0perhaps over decisions to wear masks or not wear masks, or to get vaccinated or not.\u00a0 As a physician, I support masks and vaccines, including mandates to protect the public health.\u00a0 Yet many do not agree with these positions, and anger and frustration can arise when confronted with such opposing views.\u00a0 In these situations, we are all suffering, wanting things to be different than they are.\u00a0\u00a0 When faced with disagreement, we have a choice as to how we respond. We can react with judgment and perhaps with anger, despite evidence that such reactions only harden opposing views.\u00a0 Or we might advocate for what we think is right and still respond with kindness and compassion for others who disagree with us, knowing we are all in this together.<\/p>\n

Last week we celebrated Martin Luther King Day.\u00a0 Dr. King believed in both standing up for what he felt was right, and in loving those who opposed and even wanted to harm him. \u00a0He had much to say that is relevant to the challenges we are facing today.\u00a0 Several of his quotes stand out to me, including:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLove is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMan must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.\u201d<\/p>\n

In these difficult times, Dr. King\u2019s words can continue to guide us, and remind us of the choices we have in how we face adversity and interact with others, even those who disagree with us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new year has begun, one in which many of us hoped the COVID-19 pandemic would be behind us.\u00a0 Instead, we find ourselves in another surge, with more people having become infected than ever.\u00a0 Fortunately, illness caused by Omicron, the current predominant strain, seems less severe than prior variants. Despite this, because so many people have become infected, healthcare facilities are once again stressed, and those who work in them are having to care for more patients than ever, often with fewer staff due to healthcare workers becoming infected themselves as well as the number of people who have left the field during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The amount of suffering caused by the pandemic has been and continues to be profound, affecting those infected by the virus, those caring for those who were infected, and those whose lives have been impacted in so many other ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1202,"featured_media":2352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-musings"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"\nA New Year - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2022\/01\/24\/a-new-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A New Year - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new year has begun, one in which many of us hoped the COVID-19 pandemic would be behind us.\u00a0 Instead, we find ourselves in another surge, with more people having become infected than ever.\u00a0 Fortunately, illness caused by Omicron, the current predominant strain, seems less severe than prior variants. 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