Acceptance of the ‘new normal’ and recognition that life will not be exactly the same as before. To over-simplify, there may be three main options:
- clinging to the past: unrealistic in most cases and likely, as the study notes, to increase frustration and reduced quality of life
- establishing a new normal: the ‘sweet’ or Goldilock’s spot, where having realistic goals and achieving them provides the greatest quality of life
- giving up: absence of new goals and activity, with corresponding negative impact on quality of life.
Finding and defining that ‘sweet’ spot takes time and reflection (balance between pushing and accepting), and varies from person to person. Another study that seems to confirm common sense!
