Welcome to week 4 of my blog mini-series “Isolation made me do it”

Disclaimer

I would like to start this blog by sending love and prayers to all, in this incredibly scary time that we are currently living through. 

I would like to make it clear that these posts are in no way trying to make light of Covid 19 and the colossal and devastating impact it continues to have on so many lives.

Writing is something that helps me to get through the tough times and documenting the things I have been doing and experiencing through this time has been a huge help to maintaining a healthy state of mind.

The intention is to help others and hopefully create some happiness and positivity in these dark times if only for a moment.

My Quarantine summary

The world as we know it comes to a complete stand still, everything get’s shut down, forced to live life with no social or physical contact with family or friends, being forced to work from home or left without any work entirely. Strict guidelines and rules to follow when doing something as seemingly simple as the weekly food shop, having to keep 2 metres apart and wear masks in order to keep ourselves and others safe. Doing all we can to ensure we stay well for fear the NHS and other health care services will become over run and no longer able to cope with the pandemic. Educating our children becomes the job of the parents, despite being highly under qualified and barely managing to assist with the weekly homework, we are now required to teach the lessons too.

Its definitely a time we never thought we would see and yet here we are. So much sadness, fear and loss, it will be a time that will never be forgotten and one we hope never to relive or for our future generations to live through either.

Reality check 

Through all the sadness comes a reality check and sudden realisation of what is important and the things that truly matter in life. The things I feared I would miss now seem trivial and selfish and the things that seemed less important and not such a priority are now at the top of my list!

Once fully submerged  into quarantine,  its not the shopping trips on a weekend, the expensive holidays I cant go on, meals out at our favourite restaurants, or even the boozy nights out down the local pub that i long for, I realise all those thing’s I can learn to live without,  i start to remind myself that although great they are not everything, they are not what mean the most..

The “small thing’s”

This mini series I hoped would be a chance to smile and escape for a moment, but I realise that for the most part this blog has focused on all the negative that we face at this time, but I want now to try and change that and list some of the thing’s that I have been grateful for and  also the thing’s I am looking forward to the most as we slowly come out of lockdown.

I am grateful for……

• The health of my family and friend’s and also my own health.
• All the key workers that have put their own lives at risk to ensure both the physical and mental health of other’s.
• The internet, phones and social media for giving us the ability to stay in touch with family and friend’s and to enable us to access information, entertainment and activities to keep us smiling, educated, up to date and not forgetting enabling us to keep the children busy so that us parent’s can have a moments peace.
• Time- I always wish there was more time to just be, to escape life’s race. There’s been time to complete activities and projects that i continuously put off due to the lack of time.
• Being able to spend more time with my children and do thing’s that we love such as crafts and baking.
• Having the time to take up new hobbies and or learn a new skill.
• Walking the dog, I have never actually minded walking the dog as I enjoy walking and being outside but I look forward to it even more these days, as it helps bring some routine and “normality” into each day.

The next list I’m aware is a little shorter than the previous, but that’s because after writing these three things down anything else I could think didn’t seem so important and the want and need to do them is far less.

I am looking forward to….

• Being able to hug my family and friends
• Being able to meet up with all my family at one time..
• Retuning to our pre quarantine routine but with some much needed adjustments and changes in priorities.

Of course it will be great to go on holiday and be able to visit a shop without wearing a mask and keeping 2 metres apart, but honestly the last 3 months have proved that all I really need is my family and friend’s and the time to spend with them.

Finding the positives

I know how irritating it can be when people insist you must remain positive and see the good in all the negatives, especially when the life you are living and the journey you are on is so unforgiving and relentless, but sometimes it’s what people do to cope. Having Anxiety and Depression it’s something I continuously force myself to do, I do it so often that it has almost become instinct.

Sure there are still days when I don’t feel like being positive and just want to curl up in bed and cry and sometimes I do,  I allow myself to be sad, I allow myself to be angry but then I make sure that after I’m done i think of 3 thing’s I am grateful for,  simple but I definitely find it helps adjust my focus.

Reaching my darkest moment’s I realised that If we don’t have hope and faith that thing’s will get better then we are left unable to hope for anything more than our worst day’s.

If there is nothing else there is always hope and that alone is worth the fight, in times of fear and sadness when the world stands  still I am grateful for people, the love and kindness of people and the hope that they continue to provide.

Share a smile not a judgement & Lead with kindness 💚❤️

Questions of the week

What are you most grateful for?

What are you looking forward to after Covid?