CAMARILLO — A new book from Camarillo-based psychologist and author Dr. Noelle Nelson, “I Survived COVID-19, What Now?! Finding Happiness and Success in a Post COVID World” (available on Amazon), looks at how we can take what we’re learning from the pandemic during our forced introspection and turn it into a positive future.
“Whether it was our intention or not, we’re all learning things about ourselves during these long months of quarantine—how we think, work and dream, about how we interact with family, friends and the world,” says Nelson. “We are in a unique moment in time because of COVID-19. Everything is different now. It can feel positively overwhelming—one minute our lives are ‘reopening,’ the next minute they’re forced to closed again. It can drive us crazy if we’re not careful.”
Nelson suggests we can use this global reset as an opportunity for a personal reset, a way to go forward into greater individual happiness, health and success. “It takes a new approach,” she explains, “a new attitude—namely optimism.”
Studies show how optimists–those with a positive, appreciative, forward thinking take on life–thrive. Pessimists do not. “Being an optimist isn’t just going around saying the glass is half full. Optimists deliberately see how things could work out, what might be a better way, what resources or help might be available,” says Nelson. “Research shows that people with an optimistic attitude live longer, are more successful and age well. They even outperform their own talents. Plus, optimism is a terrific booster for our immune system, which as we know, is tremendously important when it comes to our health and healing, especially now.”
“I Survived COVID-19, What Now?! Finding Happiness and Success in a Post-COVID World” gives insights and inspiration on how to accomplish a change of perspective–from pessimism to optimism—pandemic and all and even if you’re not a born optimist. It provides strategies, tips and techniques to find the positives in life, despite awful/painful circumstances. It includes examples of real people who have done just that.
“We can’t wait until the pandemic is ‘over’ to figure out how to better our lives because we don’t know when ‘over’ will be,” says Nelson. “We’re going through a crisis that none of us has ever experienced. Although the future is uncertain, it is a rare opportunity to make a real, positive change for ourselves and the world.”
I Survived COVID-19, What Now?! is available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.