One of the most scary parts of this Coronavirus is we don't know how long it is going to last and affect our every day lives. Everything is closed in my area. No dine in restaurants, no hair or nail salons, no bars, no malls. Just essential services right now such as food stores, gas stations, and pharmacies. They even closed the beach. THE BEACH! Thank goodness I got my girl and I up there yesterday to check out the sunrise. It's a time when anything can happen and we never know what is coming. What do we do to quell our own fears? Keep a routine, be vigilant in getting done what you need to do and take in the joyful moments as they come.
I admit it. I have been a slacker all this week. You can't help but feel a sense of doom and want to just veg out in front of the t-v or dive into a book to escape all the unsettled feelings. And I work from home. There is no reason in the world I can't carry on as I have been, but I have been feeling down. I guess I'm entitled a little. But it's been three days now and since we don't know how long this new normal is going to last we better start being a little more productive. There comes a time when you have to force yourself to do things you don't necessarily want to do. I'm at that point. I've been seeing a lot of people doing household cleaning. Taking one area at a time and getting it done. Not me, I haven't even considered doing my regular cleaning let alone additional cleaning. But I just decided I will clean this whole house today. No excuses. And that will make me feel good once it is all done. My house will look fresh and hopefully it will spur me to take on some larger projects.
I'm going to attempt my regular routine today. No, I'm not going to attempt it. I'm going to do it. I'm getting back to my old normal as much as possible. I have spent three days lying around feeling gloomy and that stops now. The biggest concern should be our mental health at this point. I'm still not too worried about getting the virus or dying from it. It's all the changes to our daily life. It's unsettling. It throws everything off. Now, is when we need to take back control to feel okay about where we are and where we are going.
I know some of you are out of work completely with all these closures. And I'm sure there is a lot of fear tied to that. Dave Ramsey put out a great post on Instagram yesterday on what you need to do if your income has suddenly stopped. Look him up and read it. In brief he said you need to make sure these four things are paid first and in this order. Food, utilities, shelter and transportation. He said, everything else can wait. But he also advises talking to those who may not be getting paid. Explain the circumstances. They may not give you what you are looking for but at least they know what is going on. Staying silent is never a good idea.
I'll be honest. It hasn't affected us in that way, yet. My husband is still going to work everyday and our income is still what it was. That can change at any moment though so there is a lot of fear of the unknown. But I can imagine the fear associated with already being out of work and your income being suddenly cut off. Cut out what you can. This is a time when we get back to basic survival. You may need to get rid of some of the streaming services you pay for. I know you will be home now and feel like you need them. You don't need them. You can cancel what you have and do some free trials. A lot of them will offer 30 days for free. Just make sure you cancel it before those 30 days are up. But you can watch regular t-v. You can read all kinds of books for free from your local library. I use an app called "Overdrive" where I can download books to my kindle. There are literally millions of books available. If need help navigating the app, let me know. I think (I think) I can help.
This is also the time to take in the moments of joy as they come along. I really hadn't planned to go up to the beach yesterday. I got done my podcast and saw out my window that the sunrise was looking like it was going to be a spectacular view of colors. It was still 20 minutes from the official rise. Plenty of time for me to get to the beach. I grabbed my girl and headed up. It was great. A little chilly but Tucker had a blast. I took some pictures and then I tried to be in the moment. I watched the sun come up, focused on the waves rolling in and breathed in the fresh air. I also delighted in how much fun Tucker was having. Then later in the day I posted a picture of how Tucker didn't want to come inside because she was basking in the sun. I let her. It was bringing her joy and that brought me joy. I told you the day before I was standing out on my deck and the sun was hitting my face and I just stopped to notice it, to appreciate it. It's the first day of spring...hopefully we can all hang outside more often soon!
It's "I wish it were cocktail Friday" Thursday. I have still be able to keep on my regular eating schedule so that is some good news for me. Try not to go too crazy with the snacks....it's hard, I know! But do make sure to take a little time to notice the joy today. And try to make today, your best day yet.
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