Today is February 2nd, and this time I did remember it´s Groundhog Day.

The other day, I was talking to my work colleagues oabout the plot of this movie, Groundhog Day, whose title was translated into Spanish "Atrapado en el tiempo", that is, "trapped in time", because that´s precisely what it is about: the protagonist gets stuck on February 2nd, reliving the same day (Groundhog Day) again and again, not knowing how to get out of there.

(Photo of an ordinary bench in an ordinary park.)

And after that conversation, I kept thinking... It´s been a long time since I last heard someone say they feel like they´re living in Groundhog Day, in the sense of being stuck in a rut and wanting to get out of that monotony. Perhaps because life hasn´t felt particularly routine-like in the last while, and not necessarily for reasons we could identify as "good".

Instead, it feels like (or maybe it´s just me who´s feeling it) that everything is a bit out of control, be it because of inclement weather in the last few weeks, or because of the ever-increasing speed of progress of technology (e. g. AI), or because of so many other events happening in certain parts of the world, with situations reaching the point of becoming surreal.

Maybe we´re at a point where we would prefer our world to be a bit more stable and predictable.

But for the moment, we have what we have.

So, what can we do?

I can´t help but remember the beginning of the pandemic, back in March 2020 (almost six years ago!). At that time, everything was uncertain; we were also in a surreal situation, with no precedents, and we had no idea what the future would bring. But we had to keep going, and that´s what we did: we kept going, we muddled through, and step by step, with higher or lower degrees of suffering, we managed to walk that path and arrive at a new normality.

Maybe that´s what we need to do now as well, because it´s what human beings have had to do since the beginning of time: adapt to new situations, solve new problems.

They say that, in this life, the only constant is change, and we know that that´s true: people change over time, and also our environment and circumstances change. But the thing is, sometimes that change is softer and more gradual, and sometimes it´s a lot stronger and faster, so much so that it can overwhelm us. And that´s when the feeling (or rather, the illusion) of having everything under control crumbles down, only to be replaced by stress and uncertainty.

Our brain does not like uncertainty. It finds it really uncomfortable because it doesn´t know what to do with it, and since it can't solve it using its habitual autopilot, instead, it wastes tons of energy worrying and trying to predict the future. That´s the reason why we often prefer to revert to "the devil we know", to the rut and the monotony, rather than venturing towards what´s yet to be discovered, even though it could turn out better than what we have right now.

So, if you´re currently experiencing uncertainty of any kind, please know that you´re not alone; on the contrary. And even though there are external factors that we clearly can´t control, the good news is that we can use tools and strategies to help us feel better, and recover a certain sense of order and control. Here are a few suggestions:

• Establishing "good" routines, which add stability, structure and predictability to our days, but keeping certain flexibility as well, so that we can adapt as things change around us.
• Intentionally dedicating time to taking care of ourselves, physically, mentally and emotionally, including time on our calendars for leisure, rest, and connection (which, I´ve been reminded recently, are not luxuries, but actual needs). We can tackle anything better when our batteries are fully charged, and everything becomes a struggle when we´re feeling tired or in low spirits.
• Keeping a diary (a physical one) to write (by hand) our thoughts and worries. The mere act of writing helps to bring out whatever we´re holding inside, become aware of it and process it better. Plus, our minds can now rest better, knowing it´s all written down.

What do you think about these three strategies? Which ones do you use when life moves at a faster pace than you would like?