How are YOU managing? Honestly. No lies, no cover up, no “I am fine” unless that is REALLY how you feel.
Pandemic/COVID19 has been a HUGE challenge for most of us. It is now September 24th and in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the pandemic has been here since mid-March.
It has been an eye opening, dig your heels in, take some risks, and isolating experience for most that I know.
How about you? Really sit and think about this question. Your answer will depend on where you are reading this from; which country? What was the pandemic like for you personally? For your loved ones? Did you lose your job? Did you end a relationship whether friend or romantic? Did you burn through your savings to maintain what you thought would be only a few months of lockdown and restrictions?
How are you handling all this? Did you make some changes to your lifestyle?
Were you forced to make new friends? Did you start a new job? Did you have to get creative and start a business?
Did you use the time to reconnect with friends and family? Are you focused at all on personal development? Learning new work skills? Did you take up meditation, yoga, gratitude journal, learning to love the inner you?
Did you binge watch Netflix or similar for hours on end to escape what was going on outside your door? Did you read books? Did you start a new hobby like music, painting, writing, crocheting as examples?
Basically- what have YOU done since March? How are you Managing?
NorthernMSW: Advocacy, Education/Guidance on Grief 
Thank you for the post!
How have I managed the pandemic… well, like most everyone else, I’ve been forced to adapt to a new routine. My wife and I are retired, so nothing job-related going on differently since March. Given my free time, I typically chair/speak/attend recovery meetings in my area and that has continued to some extent, although we’ve had to come up with some creative ideas. Zoom, open-air meetings outside in the local parks where social distancing is easy to maintain, etc. Most meeting rooms (churches) closed by the end of March… some are slowly starting to reopen, but I’m still very cautious about being in rooms with people for obvious reasons. I think it’ll be a while before that changes, for many of us.
That aside, eating out less… fewer trips to the grocery store, watching church service streamed online on Sundays… and for my own mental health, watching less news these days. I am very concerned about a lot of things going on in our country and world today, but I can’t allow the negativity to overcome every aspect of my life today. So I still have to be mindful of my boundaries, regardless of what’s going on.
Since my mom has been under the weather with her health over the summer, I’ve been traveling and spending time with her while she recuperates at home. So it has been a busy summer for me, with very little free time to allow my mind to drift into those unsavory places. This pandemic, in some ways, has some silver linings. I’ve lost 50 pounds, I’ve saved a lot of money with not eating out several times per week like we used to, and the time at home with my wife has been very enjoyable! She has her own routine as well, but we have more time now to do things together. Being outside more in the fresh air and enjoying all of Mother Nature’s blessings here where we live helps us maintain perspective and realize that life does indeed go on!
Thanks for the topic! Stay safe!
Wow! Thank you for your response!
So good mixed with adjusting and adapting.
Glad you are enjoying time with your wife and helping your mom💞 and yes, the outside component has been nice for me too; but with winter coming that might change a bit…it can get quite cold up my way.
Stay safe and healthy as well.