“Models Warn of Doubling Death Toll by June”
“3000 Daily Deaths by June”
“Second Wave Fears Grow”
“Cameras Monitoring Masks and Distancing”
“April Jobs Report to Show Biggest Unemployment Rate Ever”

Enough!

Yes, this virus is virulent and worthy of taking precautions to avoid, but the mental part – the constant drip-drip-drip of bad news needlessly feeds anxiety.

The pandemic is the story of the century for media and online clickbait but constant bad news can cause post-traumatic stress disorder.

From the CDC website today, a headline that is barely ever repeated or retweeted:

“For most people, the immediate risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to be low.”

Exercise great care to follow the instructions of medical science to reduce risk and change the narrative every once in a while to put the overload of media and digital scare tactics in their proper place.

One of my NYU students sent me a video yesterday of himself isolated in his Brooklyn apartment.

We’ve been having class on Zoom as every other school is doing during these trying times.  His hair was long but whose isn’t these days?

His message is worth repeating.

Quarantining by himself with no other person around for almost two months is driving him crazy.

But what is saving him is to smile.

No one can see him, but as he says it makes a big difference.  We have the choice of frowning or smiling and he found that smiling helps make isolation more tolerable.

We know smiling in front of others makes both parties feel better, but now we know that something so simple has benefits to us even alone.

No one has ever worried their way out of financial trouble.

Fear of unemployment is understandable – we’ve all likely been there – but it isn’t the end.

As a matter of fact, it’s the beginning.

It takes the irritation of sand to make a pearl and it sometimes takes real adversity to force us to make a beautiful new life.

In researching my book about the advantages of disadvantages, it was startling how successful people actually needed career disruption to start their good fortune.

To find out how badly they wanted something new and different.

To constantly test their resolve to see how much they were willing to do to get it.

In sports, when you lose a heartbreaker, you believe you will win the next time.

That’s an attitude that will work off the field, too.

If this has been forwarded to you by a friend, you can start receiving DayStarters every day here. 

When would we ever want something to be normal except when we’re scared for our lives?

Do you want normal pay or do you want pay that is commensurate with your abilities?

Do you really want to go back to not having enough time for family after you’ve taken this time in isolation to realize what you had almost let get away?

Even the things you might want back like shopping, dining, an education, a doctor’s appointment may have changed already thanks to online capabilities.

And will social distancing keep us away from people emotionally instead of providing 6 feet of physical separation?

The “New Normal” is probably a misnomer for abnormal – who wants that?

In every part of our lives we rarely aspire to normal.

While we have time on our hands, plan for exceptional by cooperating with the inevitable and aiming for better.

If this has been forwarded to you by a friend, you can start receiving DayStarters every day here. 

I don’t mind reaffirming I can get scared about COVID-19.

Constantly revising death tolls don’t cheer me up.

The obsession about being locked down is worse than actually being locked down.

If we were given a week’s vacation at a remote spa, we’d probably want to stay another week.

Time alone is different than too much time to think.

TV wants to hook us for ratings, digital wants to make us keep clicking so they can serve more ads.

The facts are that 99% of the people who get this virus will recover.

About 97% of the total population will not get the coronavirus at all.

We’re not doomed, we have the power to reject those with agendas by remembering the facts.

If this has been forwarded to you by a friend, you can start receiving DayStarters every day here. 

Have you been hearing people in lockdown saying they’re getting lazier?

Eating more than they should, watching too much Netflix?

We’re buying into the media obsession with being self-quarantined.

We’re missing the advantages of having the one thing we’ve always wanted.

Who among us hasn’t said, I wish I had more time.

The cure for the lazy virus is a routine and lists of goals.

Get dressed every morning – my students using online classes often show up for the online class in lounging clothes or propped up in bed.

While everyone else is complaining, you’re looking at an opportunity to get ahead.

If this has been forwarded to you by a friend, you can start receiving DayStarters every day here. 

Especially now when we are starved for human contact.

“Continue to be the fine person you are”.

It affirms another through total acceptance.

It doesn’t require another word or explanation – or perfection.

Works well when someone is doubting themselves.

Is the ultimate compliment when you are among many others praising someone special.

And this one phrase works as inspiration for you when your confidence is slipping.

If this has been forwarded to you by a friend, you can start receiving DayStarters every day here. 

For every fear thought, think of one that exemplifies confidence.

For every discouragement, think optimism.

For every inconvenience, focus on gratitude.

For despair, hope.

Lately, we have been living 24/7 illness.

The medical remedy is simple and clear.

Now move on to the emotional prescription:  for every negative thought or anxious feeling, remember to balance it with one of optimism.

Never underestimate the mind for dealing with anxiety, stress and trauma.

If you would like to start your day with DayStarters, click here.

Imagine if doctors told their critically ill patients that they were doomed, without options, absent of hope.

I dare say it would not be the path to recovery.

In times when we get bad news on our phones, watches, TVs, social media and in constant conversation, it’s important not to forget hopes and dreams.

Divide 30 or 60 days of isolation into the number of days we have to live on this earth and it presents itself as a minor inconvenience.

Make that 30 to 60 days useful and you’ve made lemonade out of a lemons.

If you would like to start your day with DayStarters, click here.

It’s not social distancing that we want –  it’s physical distancing to avoid illness.

An even worse disease will come over us if we mistake social distancing with physical separation.

Now more than ever those who reach out to touch others emotionally are curing their own ills as well.

More touch, more concern, more listening, more empathy, more encouragement, more love and more understanding is not restricted to 6 feet or less.

If you would like to start your day with DayStarters, click here.