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According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the most recent unemployment rate - for October to December - was 5.1%, This is the highest figure for five years, and means that 1.74 million people were unemployed.
We are living in unprecedented times, which we probably have never imagined we will face in our lifetime. Last week I lost a member of my family and because of the existing travel ban, I could not travel and attend the funeral. To participate in a ‘Zoom funeral” of a dear family member is not an experience I wish for anyone to have and yet this experience helped me to sympathise with the extra emotional struggle of losing loved ones during Covid times. Currently in the UK we had have 4.19 million Covid cases and 123,000 deaths.
Many hundreds of thousands are grieving and are under pressure, they wake up, stay indoors, and, many are barely surviving financially and undergoing mental stress. This only adds to the uncertainty and gloom. Not being able to plan for the future also triggers unnecessary anxiety.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the most recent unemployment rate - for October to December - was 5.1%, This is the highest figure for five years, and means that 1.74 million people were unemployed.
However, we must make lemonade out of lemons and should understand that the Covid-19 virus has come to stay and as some say, to stay permanently. The faster we get the idea of how to live and succeed despite the virus, the faster we will get out of this cycle of uncertainty.
During this period of lockdown, it is crucial to take care of our mental and emotional health. In this respect, the instant issue of the Parliament News Magazine reflects on this and raises the appropriate awareness.
To tackle problems that are not within our means or ability, we must get creative. To this end, I would love to share some of the things that I do which has greatly helped me and I sincerely hope that it will help all of you too.
1. Declutter - Clean your physical and emotional environment - get rid of
everything and everyone which/who doesn't give your peace.
2 Learn something new - Improve and acquire new skills, you never know if by learning something new you will be opening a door to new opportunities.
3. Stay active - Walk, get plenty of exercise and enjoy nature.
4. Chat with your friends and family - Don't bottle things up, maintain a small
circle you can trust and pick up the phone and call or message them.
5. Find a mentor - Find someone knowledgeable and trustworthy, someone that
can guide you to success and that is not afraid to tell you the truth, someone you can
call if you need serious advice.
6. Improve your social media platforms- Learning to SEO, improve your
website, uplift your social media all this takes time and patience but all the information
in 'How to' is accessible free online - take 10 minutes a day to improve something on
your media platforms and become prominent in the digital world.
7. Self- care - Stay positive, everyday look at yourself in the mirror and smile and say
something positive about YOU to yourself! It is important to be kind to others but
put yourself first on that list.
8 Project of growth - Think on your life goals, and if you don't have any goals
think how you would live the rest of your life and start working on those 'impossible'
projects from today - research - make practical contacts and be proactive, remember
you are your own hero.
And overall, if life gets a bit much seek for professional help.
Sometimes things can get overwhelming, even if you’ve been practising self-care and positive thinking so i would love to leave few useful free links that you can contact any time of day or night.
Free listening services:
These services offer confidential advice from trained volunteers. You can talk about anything that's troubling you, no matter how difficult: Call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans, or email: jo@samaritans.org for a reply within 24 hours Text "SHOUT" to 85258 to contact the Shout Crisis
Text Line, or text "YM" if you're under 19, you can also call 0800 1111 to talk to Child-line. The number will not appear on your phone bill.