It’s only day thirty-nine of social isolation but it feels like it’s been a lifetime already. Fortunately, I’m still healthy and sane so that’s a plus. I hope you guys are remaining healthy and in good spirits during this season. I’ve had lots of time to sit and reflect during this downtime. Here are the things I’ve learned about myself and some life lessons everyone can take away from this experience.
What I’ve learned about myself…
I am not a home body! I am 10000% sure of this now. Have you guys seen the viral video of a little girl walking around the house repeatedly chanting “I hate this house!” I am her in adult form. I am very introverted and enjoy spending time alone. However, I absolutely hate being confined to one environment for extended periods of time. I love to get out and explore my surroundings. I enjoy dining out, shopping, discovering new neighborhoods, and taking photos. Museum hopping and concerts in the park are a few of my guilty pleasures. It has been super challenging to be cooped up in the house for weeks. Nevertheless, I am finally getting somewhat adjusted to this new normal of social isolation.
I needed to find a new coping mechanism to help me maintain my sanity. I’ve always used travel as a tool to help me escape reality, give me space to just breathe, and to recharge my creative energy. Travel was more than just jet setting to a different location. It allowed me to gain new perspectives on different aspects of life. COVID brought my travel plans to a screeching halt. This forced me to discover a new way to maintain my mental health. To be quite transparent, I have had quite a few meltdowns during this period. Luckily, I am getting better by the day. I’ve had time to reconnect with God on a level that I hadn’t in the past due to so many external distractions.
I am learning to be more content. The Biblical principles outlined in Philippians 4 have really helped me work on this state of mind. Contentment has always been a struggle for me. I think it’s the Type A perfectionist in me. I’m always thinking of ways to make things better. This area is still a work in progress.
I am learning to be more grateful. Gratitude is an attitude. Each day I wake up praising God that I am healthy, my basic needs are being met, and that I am able to earn an income from home. I am most grateful that my friends and loved ones are happy and healthy and that the members of my extended family who battled the coronavirus have fully recovered.
Lessons for us all.
Never take the small things in life for granted. How many of us took for granted the ability to go wherever we wanted whenever we wanted? How many of us took for granted being able to gather with friends and family anytime? I have learned that every aspect of life is a gift. We should cherish the little things.
No one could have predicted that millions of people across the country and globally would lose their jobs in 2020.
It’s such a staggering statistic. I don’t know about you guys but I had never stopped to consider the socioeconomic consequences of this pandemic. Watching the unemployment rate rise exponentially each week reinforced the fact that emergency funds are essential, not optional. It’s so important to save for a rainy day. Saving money is a challenge for many people for a myriad of reasons. Let me challenge you to sit down with your budget planner for May 2020 and find one area of your budget that you can reallocate to savings during this time. I am currently saving all my budgeted gas money since I haven’t had to commute to work in over a month. I’m also having the food at the house talk with myself periodically. It doesn’t always work but it’s worth a shot.
Along the same vein, I would also encourage everyone to have multiple streams of income. Use this extra time to think of alternative ways to make money. Side note: I’ve discovered dozens of work from home opportunities that require very little effort. If you guys want me to highlight some options in a future post, leave me a comment below.
We are all in survival mode. I hope we all can appreciate how citizens from all nations around the globe banded together in times of crisis. This pandemic has allowed me to see there is hope for humanity after all and that most people truly are compassionate. There are still some people who are extremely selfish (looking at you protesters) but I choose to focus on the citizens who are giving their last to friends and families who are sick and shut in, making masks for the community, cheering on our healthcare workers and public servants on the frontline, looking out for their neighbors who are in need, and taking this social distancing and social isolation very seriously. Let’s challenge ourselves to continue this outpouring of compassion beyond the pandemic.
Lastly, the biggest lesson we all can take away from this period of social isolation may be although we can’t control what’s happening around us, we CAN control how we respond to it.
I want to challenge you all to continue responding with kindness, selflessness, and patience. Let’s make the best of a tragic situation. I also will encourage you to take this time to reconnect with God, yourself, family, and friends. Practice self care. Eliminate any unnecessary distractions, eat all the quarantine snacks, and do all the things that make you happy.
