Closing the Stress Cycle with Positive Interactions!

Prior to the pandemic, I (and I imagine a lot of you) had a healthy dose of positive social interaction. I'm not a social butterfly, but life was full and rich with people points of contact. From church to my barista buddies, I had friendly conversations with people, in person, multiple times per day. People who have these kinds of interactions daily are happier because....this helps close the stress response cycle.

The body notices. The brain thinks, oh hey, look, no one is yelling or pulling a knife! All is well! But post pandemic, all is not well. I went to get my hair cut for the first time post pandemic and overheard a woman talking about her lazy pastor because her pastor did not figure out how to do parking lot church. And that lazy pastor was me! Imagine my surprise. (We do not actually have a parking lot; our building is in an office complex.)

The place I go to relax and receive pampering all of a sudden did not feel so safe. And this is a systemic problem for all of us. Family gatherings can be tense for many families, but now we worry about spreading the coronavirus to grandma; our substance abusing loved ones are abusing more, not less; our families are divided red and blue when we all should be pulling together, not apart.

One of the main "stress cycle closing" activities - positive social interactions - has turned into family feud. No wonder we are all so stressed!

What could you do to reduce the stress of another person through a positive interaction? Plan for it! Execute the plan - our collective wellbeing depends on us getting our social wellness back on track!