As I sit and flip through channels on the TV, I come across the National Cornhole Championship. I start to giggle and call my husband to the room.
He proceeds to tell me that during the pandemic, there have been reruns of World Series and Basketball games from 1993. I’ve also seen live concerts and there was even a Macy’s Fourth of July special!
What’s interesting to me is how humans adapt to their world. We can’t go to bars, gyms, or Festivals and during the pandemic, I’ve seen the most creative ways of coping and even celebrating: drive-by parades, community gift basket groups, remote working. During these challenging times, we have found ways to thrive.
Those who are having the most difficult time with the social distancing, are those who were very active socially and those who love to get out and experience adventure.
This would be me. In trying to be hopeful, I continued to book travel plans with an optimistic belief that the quarantine requirements would be lifted by the date of my trips. Unfortunately, it keeps getting extended and I’ve now had to cancel 3 vacations.
Through it all, I have figured out the ability to find comfort, joy, and even adventure from my home. My safe place where those I cherish the most reside. I figured out what the most “essential” things are to me.
By distracting myself with new things such online learning courses, cooking, and writing, I proved I have the ability to make joy happen regardless of what is happening that may feel out of my control.
Although inconvenient, buying toilet paper and getting my nails done in a salon turned out to seem more of a hinderance that I had been doing pre-pandemic. We have been forced to find our creative, patient, and our most basic and intrinsic needs.
I asked my son, Noah, and his girlfriend, Noemi, “What will you do differently when all the limitations are lifted, what did you learn from this situation?”
My son stated something that I think is so important: “To budget and save money.” Noemi said she “will not take things for granted.” The ability to do what we want, WHEN we want has been an advantage we now can have more appreciation for. This is the gratitude mindset that I hope has awakened in many people.
Some of us have been forced to look at our relationships, our jobs, and purpose differently and ask ourselves, “Is this what really makes me happy?”
The takeaway is knowing what true essential needs are. That material things or people are not what matters, but the joy discovered without those things are the most fulfilling.
Love and Blessings.
Maureen