Thread:

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra held a conference call today.
I asked Spo about how he is handling the mental side of this crisis, and how much news he’s taking in right now.

Over the next several posts, his answer, in its entirety.

It may help you.

Enjoy.

“That’s a really good point and that’s something that we talked about as a staff and even with our players. We’ve encouraged them to be up to date on the news and to check in once a day. My routine is to check in after dinner. (more)

"And I usually get on my computer and watch a little bit of what’s going on with it, so I’m staying abreast of the current status of things. But I definitely do not try to start my day that way and I do not want to obsess about it during the day. (more)

"I’m wearing a shirt right now that I got from my friend Jon Gordon, who wrote ‘The Energy Bus.’ It says ‘Stay Positive.’ I wear this every other day, pretty much. I wash it and wear it every other day. It helps me stay focused on that. (more)

"Don’t forget, this is such an unusual, unsure time for so many of us that you really want to focus on controlling what you can control. That’s your positive outlook. That’s spending time with people that you love. And then also for us, what we’ve talked a lot about ... (more)

"... is trying to take care of people who aren’t as fortunate as us.

"As you know, Micky and Madeleine, the Arison family, started it off by donating to Feeding South Florida ( http://heat.com/donate ) and we’ve really encouraged our staff and players to get involved ... (more)

"... with that as well, to be able to help people that are really affected by this in a different way than we are. Yes, we are being affected by it taking away from work and doing what we love to do and our livelihood at work and having to stay at home. (more)

"But we still have opportunities for three meals a day. Look, my kids are young kids under the age of 2. They have no idea what’s going on. They think this is a big party in the backyard every single day. (more)

"So, it is unique and we do want our team to be thinking of others, and to feel real empathy and a giving nature during this time. That also can help deal with some potential anxiety or stress that somebody may be going through with this, to focus on helping other people.” (END)