Positives of Hard Times

Firstly apologies for not posting for a while, it’s hard to charge my phone due to everywhere being closed. That’s coronavirus craziness for you. However I’m seeing a lot of positives. eople are smiling more, young children are out learning to ride bicycles, everyone is waking up to the beauty on their doorsteps. These are just some of the postives of hard times.

This picture was taken on my way back to where I’m staying/holeing up during this coronavirus crisis. It’s by the side of the cannal in Edinburgh. I returned to this city as I’m wittness in a criminal court case on Wednesday. I’m still waiting to hear if I have to still give evidence. To be honest I have no idea what the accused is on trial for but I do know them. I’ve received an offical letter saying I have to attend. In Scotland it’s an arrestible offence to not attend court as a wittness if the crown has issued a offical letter.

Fighting fear

You see the media would have us all believing that we are back in the dark ages, about to die. I don’t believe that. It’s not what I’m seeing with my own eyes. As I take my allotted time outside for exercise and to get food I’m seeing people happy and content.

I’m seeing people smiling, kids with adults learning to ride bikes. There are people playing football, frisbee and other outside games. Dogs are bounding around wagging their tails as they chase balls in parks. In fact it’s almost as if people are waking up from a deep sleep and venturing outside for the first time. Most people are recognising the beauty on the doorsteps of communities they’ve lived for years but have been strangers to.

Town centres are different

All that said the normally bustling city centre is resembling a ghost town. I went to an evening meal. It was kindly provided by the charity Steps to Hope, for those who are homeless or suffering with addictions. I met a nice man who is also documenting the effects of Covid19 on life in UK. He took my photograph after asking my permission and I will mention him on Instagram when I publish this post.

Our Role In The Battle Against Coronavirus

As a blogger and former NHS employee I feel that I have a duty to help in the war on Coronavirus. My specialist field of health care was psychiatry and I know that good mental health leads to good physical health. I also know how much strain the NHS is under.

I’ve detailed before how important basic hygiene, like washing your hands is. New readers can click the blue words to read that post.

Whole body health

Some readers may of heard of a treatment called CBT but not know what those letters stand for. I didn’t until I took the time to learn. In health terms it stands for cognitive behavioural therapy. Bit of a mouthful eh?

It’s the journey not the destination

Now back in the day I used to ride a motorbike. I never had the money to pay for enough lessons to get a powerful bike but I loved my little 125cc engine Yamaha YBR. Rode it on Learner plates and passed my Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) twice. Always remember my instructor saying you only learn how to ride after you’ve passed your test. I reckon both CBTs have simular principles.

Meaning of words

We are in dark times but with courage and creativity we can have the positives of hard times. Let’s look at those long, strange, difficult to understand health CBT words.

Cognitive: well that’s just medical speak for the thought process that goes on between your ears. Believe it or not before everything you do, every action there’s a thought that happens first. Which brings us nicely to the second word. Behavioural: that’s just actions, things you do. You can test it out. I reckon some of you readers have a cup next to you. Well before you drink from it didn’t you think to yourself “I’m a bit thirsty I’ll just have a drink from this cup”. I doubt that there is a single person reading this that didn’t think, ” Hey I’m going to read this blog by Billie a human being bit like me”. The behaviours are drinking from the cup and reading this blog.

Oh I missed out the last word therapy. That’s just to let you know it’s a health related term not related to riding a motorbike.

CBT and Covid19

I read somewhere and know from my own life experiences that when I’m feeling mentally healthy I also feel physically healthy. Likewise when I’m feeling stressed out I catch every single bug or virus going. Readers think about your own experiences. Don’t you find that almost every time you’ve come down with a bug or virus you’ve also had a horrendously stressful time just before you became physically unwell?

Years ago in Britain we had rationing. We survived by knuckling down and seeing the positives of hard times. Some folk called this the Blitz Spirit.

So readers this is my call to action to you all. Let’s rekindle a worldwide Blitz Spirit and do everything we can to stay positive and healthy in both body and mind. Follow the government advice and be creative. Stay away from the overwhelmed health care services unless you are absolutely so seriously unwell your about to die. This will protect you, our communities and the healthcare services.