In this final post of the Therapy of Thought series, I want to talk about our need, as humans, for love. This is something that has really come to the forefront over the past weeks as we all are striving to live within the confines of the COVID-19 virus. Many of us are confined to our homes for the duration of the infection. Some of us are fortunate to be able to work from home, while others have lost their jobs, causing unforeseen stresses upon our mental, physical, and financial well-being.
One of the more pronounced stresses is the lack of contact with our loved ones. While it is true that many stay-at-home folks are confined with immediate families, many are alone. According to an article on the Psychology Today website, all of us have an intense desire to be loved and nurtured. The need to be loved, as experiments by Bowlby and others have shown, could be considered one of our most basic and fundamental needs. One of the forms that this need takes is contact comfort—the desire to be held and touched. (Raghunathan, 2014) The need for love requires human contact. During this pandemic, touching is discouraged. We are asked to remain six feet apart when in the company of others. For those who are living alone, the social distancing part of this is easy, there is no-one to stay away from, but those folks still need to have contact with their family and friends. Fortunately, this will not last forever, but in the meantime, it is important to maintain that contact as much as we can. Technology is one of the ways we can still be with our loved ones, albeit without actually touching. As we wait for the end of the pandemic, it is important to remember that we need to stay in contact, however we can do that safely, with our loved ones. We know that the desire to love and care for others is a hard-wired and deep-seated because the fulfillment of this desire enhances our happiness levels. Expressing love or compassion for others benefits not just the recipient of affection, but also the person who delivers it. Keep in touch with your family and friends through small acts of kindness, like writing letters, leaving food and other gifts for those who are shut-in and cannot leave, video chat whenever feasible. We will prevail over the pandemic and our ability to love will continue. For more information on the Therapy of Thought, check out my book: I Want My Body Back, Volume I in the Unique Style of Fit Trilogy. The next series I will be covering in this blog is from Volume II in the Unique Style of Fit Trilogy: Your Unique Style of Fit: Mindset. References Raghunathan, R. (2014, January 8). The Need to Love. Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sapient-nature/201401/the-need-love
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This week's blog post is a link to a podcast I recently recorded with Valeria Teles, Podacster on Fitforjoy.org. In this episode, I discuss the connection between a positive mental image with a positive body image. I also talk about the Power of the Mind, a topic I have been covering in previous blog posts.
Enjoy the podcast here: Dr. Audrey Pullman: Finding Your Unique Style of Fit. As we get used to the new normal (whatever normal is) of COVID-19 and staying at home, we still need to understand our need for success. Before the virus took over our lives, we strived for success at our jobs, with our families, and with our relationships. That has not changed – but the way we go about fulfilling this need has changed. The dynamics of our every day lives are drastically different with the current stay-at-home mandates we are living under.
If we are fortunate enough to work from home, we can still do the best job possible and achieve success with our projects, tasks, etc. But if we cannot work from home and our jobs have ended because they are not deemed “essential,” achieving success is much harder. This is the time when we can make choices. If we have the financial resources available to live without a paycheck for several months, we can wait it out. But, if we do not have those resources, we are faced with loss of our homes, inability to feed ourselves and our families, and possible bankruptcy because we cannot pay our bills. This is the time when the need for success can be greatly challenged. The idea here is to change the paradigm. Be successful at something other than our “old” job. Be successful at finding new, possibly very different, employment. Be successful at parenting, home-schooling, and relationship building if necessary. Simply put, work toward being successful in whatever capacity we need to be. It’s not easy, but there are resources available to you. The Website, HIPB2B has a list of working from home tips that can help: 1. Create Routines 2. Switch Up Your Scenery 3. Communicate More 4. Schedule Quiet Time 5. Go Outside 6. Nurture Yourself 7. Eat Food 8. Set Goals 9. Keep Track of Time (Otlowski, 2020) The Therapy of Thought discussed in my book: I Want My Body Back, Volume I in the Unique Style of Fit Trilogy. Will also give you more information on how you can achieve the success you are looking for through using thought. The next post in this series will be all about Humans and their and their need to love. References: Otlowski, A. (2020, April 2). Real Life Work-From-Home Tips During the Covid-19 Quarantine. Retrieved from HIPB2B: https://www.hipb2b.com/blog/real-life-work-from-home-tips-during-the-covid-19-quarantine |
AuthorI am a Performance Enhancement Specialist with a background in Emergency Psychiatric Medicine and Community Addiction. Archives
December 2023
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