Opening my heart lately to see the good and bad while quarantined. I have trained myself to look for the good. (thanks, Mom!) But there are some devastating effects as well. I have noticed the hard stuff the longer this quarantine goes on. I see the good, bad and ugly (really bad!) right now.
FAMILY– I have 9 kids that are spread out across the nation. Our parents and grandparents are strictly quarantined in their homes.
THE GOOD: I make time for those we love more often than I used to by FaceTime and Zoom calls. It’s been really fun to do this!
THE BAD: We can only drop items off on their porch and wave. This works for only those who live in our city. I miss those who do not live in my home. A lot.
THE UGLY:Keeping teens quarantied is hard! Nearly impossible! They are miserable without friends and being social and so am I.
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SCHOOL: We have two high school seniors who ended their final year of high school in March instead of June.
THE GOOD: I see these two girls a lot more now than I did on a regular basis. Another GOOD is they are trying a different way of learning (online) and they can see there are other ways people learn. Experts say that school is built around only 2 of the 10 inteliigences (numerical and verbal). The biggest GOOD is I don’t have to home school because my kids are seniors in high school and learning things I can’t help them with!
THE BAD:They have spent the last couple of days crying because they heard they will not go back to high school. You would think they would be happy about NO school, but they are devastated that there will be no proms, no yearbook signing, no graduation ceremony and party.
THE UGLY: It’s over -whether they like it or not. When they left that Friday in March, they didn’t know they would never walk the halls again. They never got to say goodbye and that may have lasting effects – similar to what I have seen with the grief cycle.
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BUSINESS: I’m a small business owner of a toy company. We distribute to museums and small toy companies who have all been shut down. This means I have been shut down.
THE GOOD:I have been given the opportunity to grow my business in other ways like online sales and have more time to be creative and come up with ideas for new products. I also have more time to blog!
THE BAD: No sales means no money coming in to pay wages, rent, utilities, insurance, etc. Ouch!
THE UGLY: I miss my employees and my brother who is my business partner. A lot.
TIME: Time is the only thing that is equal for all humans. How we spend it is up to us.
THE GOOD: I love being able to spend my time how I want without any schedules. It makes me realize that I could change things up to be more productive. But having downtime is really important for my creativity. That honey-do-at-home list that we said we didn’t have time for, well here is a bunch of TIME at HOME!
THE BAD: Being quarantined at home can be hard to stay sane. Even though there is a lot to do, it’s difficult to stay focused.
THE UGLY: I have so many goals that I want to accomplish in this time of pause and I feel like I’m on a treadmill getting no place fast.
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HEALTH: Now is the time to boost our immune system
THE GOOD: I have been studying health and wellness for years and it starts with what foods we put in our bodies. The grocery stores still have most fruits and veggies and that is what our bodies really need. Having the country quarantined is also giving our environment a break which has been shown to have positive effects.
THE BAD: When we have big stress our bodies go into fight or flight mode, then we don’t make rational decisions. I notice this in what I buy and what I eat. I rarely eat any bread but now that I’m quarantined, I have eaten more in the past month than the last year combined. It shows on my body, and in my energy.
THE UGLY: People I know personally have died from COVID19. It really puts everything into perspective when this happens. My heart breaks, and shatters, for the families who are dealing with the death of a loved one. That’s why I have this website, is to lift those who suffer and give them hope.
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I believe the pause we have all received is a gift to reflect upon all aspects of our life. There is a lot of good and bad, but we do have a choice on what we focus our attention on.
