Gratitude During a Global Pandemic

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How are you? I mean how are you, really?

I know – life is bonkers right now. Really, really bonkers. The whole thing. Shutting everything down, kids home from school, social distancing. There is SO MUCH OUT THERE that can make even the most chill person agitated and anxious and uncomfortable and afraid.

Whenever I find myself in an overwhelming situation – and it turns out a global pandemic is no exception – I very deliberately try and take a step back to find the morsels, the littlest nuggets to keep me going, keep me sane, keep me grounded, and keep me grateful.

So, in no particular order, this is what I’m grateful for at this point in the weirdest spring that has ever sprung:

  • My husband isn’t traveling right now so we can hang out all.the.time.
  • My kids aren’t little and can manage their schoolwork on their own. I hope. I’m using this as a lesson in their independence and also working on my control issues. So I *think* they’re managing on their own – I feel like the constructs of discipline and rules and perfection have become nebulous (at least here in this house) – and we’re all just doing the best we can.
  • Technology. We can easily communicate with people we love who aren’t in our little bubbles, and as a way my girls can get some schooling in while we’re home.
  • Virtual happy hours with friends, both local and far away. And WHY HAVEN’T WE DONE THIS BEFORE? I did it a little bit while were living in New Zealand, but not regularly and I don’t know why not. I desperately hope this is something we take back into real life when it happens. I’m certain these happy hours will be more interesting if there were *actual* news to give instead of just, “Ummm, I walked for about 5 miles today again.”
  • Nice weather which makes it easier to get outside and away from the people we’re living with so very constantly and closely right now.
  • Podcasts, audiobooks, and music to make my long, daily walks a little more interesting.
  • Working and walking legs to take me on my long, daily walks.
  • Spring blooms to look at while I’m on my long, daily walks.
  • The collective nature of this. We ALL are in a surreal place. We ALL have kids who are falling behind in school probably. We ALL miss our friends. We ALL worry about the future. We ALL are going a little stir crazy. I’m a total homebody and even I’m getting antsy. There’s NOBODY untouched by this and there is solidarity in that. Weird, surreal, bonkers solidarity. But we ALL are feeling it. Yes, we’re isolated, but we ALL are isolated and I find comfort in that.
  • Relaxed mornings. I love not rushing around in the mornings trying to get three people out of the house on time to three different places. Leisurely coffee has become my new favorite thing.
  • Being released from the pressures of doing a lot and being super productive. I mean, my introverted, homebody self gets enough done (I guess?), but there really is time to do it tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next. So if I want to sit on my patio and listen to the birdsong, I’m not beating myself up over that. At all.
  • My awesome gym’s online workouts. I don’t love doing the workouts all alone, that’s for sure. But every day, the owners go Live on Facebook from their home and it’s a perfect-given-this-situation way to connect in these isolating times. I miss everyone and our big workouts where we throw lots of weight around, but it’s better than nothing. Also, it’s encouraging me to do more than just take long, daily walks.
  • Believing wholeheartedly that good enough is good enough. Y’all – IT IS. Getting by is getting by, and who even knows what the standards ARE during a global pandemic? We get to set them and let’s just agree – for the sake of caring for ourselves and helping us out – that good enough is good enough. Because it is, I promise.

Everyone’s in a different situation – maybe you have little kids and need to be very hands-on with their school work. That’s exhausting for sure, but on the bright side, maybe they aren’t paying attention to the news and trying to wrap their heads around the enormity of this, so you don’t have to worry about that kind of anxiety on top of yours.

Maybe you actually hate your work situation and working from home is giving you some sweet relief. Maybe there’s a home project you really wanted to get done but just couldn’t find the time.

Maybe the hectic pace of your life was getting to just be too much. Maybe you haven’t been getting as much exercise as you would’ve liked and now have the time to play with the kids or walk the neighborhood.

Whatever it is, if you can find *any little thing* to be grateful for, it will help. And if you focus on any little morsel you can find, maybe it will help manage some of the unease.

The first time I put on a mask to go to the grosch (pronounced like the first syllable of grocery), I cried. It was so scary, but now I’ve decided to use our Pukeko key holder as a mask holder instead. (A Pukeko is a bird native to New Zealand with a bright blue body and a freaky red beak and legs. Some friends there gave it to us a parting gift when we left.) And that little nugget brings me some joy. 

These are unsettling, scary, and unprecedented times and we’re all worried about a lot of things – and none of it is in our control. But this is our reality for right now and we simply have to find a way through it. So, give yourself some grace – actually, give yourself a LOT of grace.

Be as kind to yourself as you would be to your very best girlfriend who feels like loose change and isn’t sure if she’s doing enough or doing it right or doing too much and worried about her kids’ education and her family’s financial stability and mental and emotional well-being.

You are doing the very best you can. We’re all doing the very best we can and we’ll need each other more than ever when we come out on the other side of this, whatever it may look like and whenever it may be.

What are you grateful for these days? What little morsels are you finding in this new reality? How are you coping?

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Kathy Ferguson
Wildly in love with her perfectly imperfect life, Kathy’s been married to her most favorite person in the world, “The Professor,” for 14 years. They moved to Columbia from Atlanta seven years ago and are enjoying raising their two girls, Gracie (12½) and Tate (10) here. After undergrad and her MBA, Kathy worked in Corporate America for 10 years before retiring to work full-time for the girls. Most recently, she was a grant writer at a college here in town, but had to leave that job when her family moved to New Zealand for six months for The Professor’s sabbatical. She started her blog, kathygoeskiwi.com, to document that amazing adventure, but now she’s home and trying to figure out what to do with her life. Again. Probably the loudest and most foul-mouthed introvert you’ll ever meet, she can usually be found curled up with a trashy romance novel, on the tennis court, at her awesome gym, or drinking wine with people she loves.

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