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Uncertainty Due to Lack of Knowledge
The coronavirus brings many problems related to uncertainty. First is the lack of knowledge and understanding of this virus, leading to changing directions to the public about what to do. Don't wear a face mask, it isn't necessary (and we need them for health care workers). Wear a face mask, because it will prevent spreading by large droplets which, fortunately, fall to the ground rather quickly. Watch out, the virus is spread by micro-droplets (aerosol form) that may linger in the air for hours. What will we be told next?
Uncertainty Due to Lack of Infrastructure
Due to a lack of infrastructure (materials, organization and coordination), epidemiologists aren't able to track the virus' spread optimally. Who in my area has it? How many people in my area are walking around asymptomatic? Are things in my area getting better or worse? Will the restaurants stay open or will they be re-closed?
Uncertainty Due to Lack of Experience
And due to a lack of experience and foresight, some public officials are creating uncertainty as they try to respond to protests. For instance, Minneapolis politicians responding to the protests by calling for help from the National Guard didn't understand how long it would take for the Guard to arrive and, once arrived, didn't immediately tell them where to go. (They didn't know that members of the Guard, ordinary citizens, have to be called up, leave their normal jobs, report for duty, collect their gear and travel to the affected area.) So, is it safe to join a protest? Or is it wiser to stay home?
Uncertainty Due to Complexity
In a recent New York Times article, a working parent, fatigued by homeschooling her children for the last three and a half months, described the uncertainty she and her friends have of not knowing how to deal with the upcoming school year. Is it safe at all to send their children back to school? What school schedule will New York children have? One week out of three at school? Two days per week? Which districts will have which schedules? Where will children be taken care of on the days or weeks they aren't in school? How can parents go back to work when their children aren't in school full time? And how can school officials design a reasonable reopening when they have inadequate space and personnel?
How to Cope with Uncertainty
People are responding to these and other uncertainties with fear, anger, frustration, confusion, and sometimes with despair. And another reaction to uncertainty is ambivalence. Should you do this? Or should you do that? When you are of two minds about something, each is contained in its own mental pathway. They alternate as each temporarily dominates. It's like a seesaw. When you are in a state of ambivalence, it helps just to picture your alternatives as two mental pathways riding a seesaw.
Using my complimentary Tool will give you moments of peacefulness and calm. And, in addition, in Step 3 you can wish for a new mental pathway that will decrease the mental static caused by all of your uncomfortable emotions so that you can make decisions more calmly.
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