Time flies when you’re having fun –– but it also keeps moving when boredom and stagnation set in. I never thought that the end of my sophomore year and entire junior year of college would be spent in the midst of a global pandemic, but here I am! The isolation, quarantine, distance from friends and family, and online learning in 2020 and 2021 have taken up a good chunk of time, and it’s made me afraid of the future.
How will I handle normal social interaction again? How will I cope with the separation anxiety from those I’ve quarantined with? How will I handle the uncertainty of attending graduate school when all I really want is to go home? How will I find a job in a market devastated worldwide?
The list of uncertainties regarding life post-pandemic is endless. But when I begin to consider the ceaseless unknowns and the panic sets in, I have to pause and remind myself: the list of opportunities are endless as well.
A fear of the future is completely normal in this day and age, and it’s important to remind ourselves that anything is possible, the good and the bad. Yes, I could have massive separation anxiety from members of my household when the restrictions are lifted and I can spend time away from them (as a person who has struggled with separation anxiety her entire life, this is one of my biggest fears), but I could also be totally fine, and value my time with the people I love even more.
I could have fears about attending graduate school hundreds of miles away from home, rationalizing that being closer to home would mean I’m able to see family if something like this ever happens again … but who wants to live a life controlled by a fear of the unknown? Certainly not me.
Coping with fear isn’t easy, especially when it’s about the future. As someone with an anxiety disorder, any sort of unknown can be difficult to handle. That’s why I like to engage with helpful tools to deal with that fear: talk the fear out with a loved one, journal the pros and cons of the situation, make a list of any potential outcomes (both positive and negative), or write down everything that you were anxious about in the past and what ended up happening. The odds are, when you put pen to paper or simply get your thoughts out by talking, the fear will feel a lot smaller.
I often find myself lost in the fray of wondering what will happen in the coming months, as the world opens up again and we return to some sense of normalcy. I know that people advocate for living in the moment, but living in the moment is a bit difficult when it’s just staring at a computer screen, hoping for something interesting to happen.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve been given when it comes to feeling stir-crazy is to think of things you can only do in that present moment: enjoy the feeling of “going to class” in pajamas, read up on the scientific innovation of the vaccines, match your mask to your outfit when you go out. It may not be the most fun solution — because life in a pandemic is dull — but it helps to find any glimpse of positivity in the present moment, while also dwindling that fear of the future in your head.
The next time fear of the future comes to mind, take a deep breath, write about it, and try to find a positive aspect of the present moment –– no fear is too big to be conquered.
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