Contributed by – Healthians team
As the whole world comes together to fight coronavirus, “social distancing” has become the newest buzzword. People have been sharing innovative ways to maintain distance on social media. While it’s a challenging time for the whole world, seeing how people are supporting each other is very heartwarming.
Due to social distancing, many people are far away from their families and are feeling lonely. Others, on the flip side, are spending too much time with their wife, children, parents and siblings. Both of these situations can lead to friction in relationships. It is only by actively maintaining these relationships that we can all come out stronger at the end.
By studying relationships for years, researchers have come out with 5 ways that can help you strengthen all of your relationships, be it with your parents, your siblings, your friends or your significant other. Which are all the more relevant in today’s times when people are maintaining social distancing with friends but spending too much time with family. Here are the 5 ways :
Positivity – Have cheerful and uplifting interactions, especially amidst uncertainty and stress, with those you love, whether friends or family.
Openness – Share your feelings and fears. Be vulnerable with each other. It’ll help you bond on a deeper level.
Assurance – Many people often overlook this point. But, constant assurance, telling people that you love and care about them often is important.
Tasks – Share and divide the work amongst each other. This way none of you will be over-benefitted or under-benefitted.
Network – Families usually already have huge networks. Having people in common helps strengthen the relationship.
These are the basic strategies that can help strengthen a relationship. Now, how do you incorporate them while practicing social distance? Here are a few tips:
Take some time out for each other
Consider yourself lucky if you are with your family during these times. You have people who love you, with you. So appreciate that and take some out for them. No matter how much office work you have or how much more episodes of that series are left, prioritize your family. Play board games together, have all your meals together. Those who are on their own will do anything to be with their families right now. If you have it, don’t take it for granted. You can also connect with your friends online, through video calling and even play online games.
Utilize technology to its best
Fortunately, we have technology with us. And we can talk to anyone at any given time. Reap all the benefits of it. Check on your friends regularly, especially those who live alone away from family. Connect with old friends who are now just limited to Facebook likes, have a conversation with them. Video call your grandparents to see if they are ok. That’s not all. Sharing memes is the newest way of showing your love. So, do that. Cheer them up. Stay connected with all your loved ones because we are all in this together.
Set personal space
No matter how important staying connected with your family and friends is right now, taking some time out for a little mental space will do no harm. We all need to relax our mind and we all have different ways of doing that. So, if spending some time alone, listening to podcasts alone or sketching is your way, then don’t feel guilty about it. Explain it to your family and enjoy your time.
Share responsibilities
At home, especially when everybody’s at home, don’t let one person do all the chores. If your mom is cooking food then you volunteer to serve it. If your sister is doing the dishes then you do the laundry. Share and divide all the tasks. It’ll not only lessen the burden of one person but is also a perfect way to strengthen relationships.
Make room for fun
While quarantine is forced, it need not be sad. This is the time to relive your childhood. Bring out the board games, video games, carrom and cards and have some fun time with your family. You can also play online games with members of the family or friends who don’t live with you.
Now that social distancing has made us realise the importance of socializing all the more, we can actually make this distance work in our favour to strengthen relationships with the people who matter to us.
