So if we are being totally honest I think we have all felt this way at one point in these past 11 weeks.  I came home from an amazing vacation in mid February ready to take on the world only to become sick two days later.  With the world situation I have essentially been in social isolation since then, and boy I miss humans.

This corona coaster can find you thinking everything is great, we are nesting, trying new recipes, connecting more with our family members and cleaning the house a lot.  Sounds pretty nice doesn’t it?  Sadly that is a snapshot of a day.  The flip side is that another minute we are catastrophizing, worrying about our parents, the state of the world, not cleaning the house because why bother and snapping at the same people we have had to look at for the past almost 3 months. I even found myself very anxious going to the grocery store for the first time.

I thinks my cats are about to ask me to leave and go somewhere and stop interrupting their daily routine.  A friend called and said “I just want to have a conversation without my “cell mates” around”.  “It is okay to not be okay” so they tell us in all the online articles that I have read recently.  Certainly that works for awhile but then we need to get back to life.

Routines Rock

I’m not going to lie, this is my go to.  I can tell you right now that every time I take a dark turn in these Covid times it happens when I veer from my routine.  If I am finding myself a bit weepy you would probably find me with a freshly baked sea salted chocolate chocolate cookie in hand watching Netflix at far too late of an hour.

Routines work, they really do.  During the week I get up and get dressed for work and head down to my office. The commute is delightful and I enjoy getting that time back in my day.  I plan my meals for the week, although there are like 5,000 of them every week it seems.

Life is topsy turvy but we can create routines we love.  Now is the time to explore You Tube workouts and go for that daily walk if that is what you have always lacked the time to do.  It can also mean teaching your children to cook or do laundry.  Start with something simple and get them going so they have something they can make one night a week when you need a hand.

Learn One Thing

Notice I said 1 Thing, not 20 new things.  Master the first one and then see if you still want to try something else. I have learned how to get over my discomfort of video meetings.  I love that I was finally able to master Zoom and start seeing clients again.  It isn’t the same as in person but it has actually been nice.

Never able to try to new recipe? Want to create your own website? Learn to speak Spanish? Thank you Covid! Now you have time to shift to focusing on something for just you.

Be Kind to Yourself

So this is the part where we say, slowing down and reflecting is good and not doing everything you think you “should” get done is absolutely okay.  Some people need to be creative and learn things to stay well but it isn’t for everyone.  Do not set your sights so high that you think you are going to remodel your whole world this summer. Enjoy the sunshine, putter in your garden and just survive. My new goal is to read one beach read per month. Realistic and fun, that is being kind to yourself.

What Stays, What Goes

This is the best part of Covid in my opinion.  We were living on this hamster wheel going faster and faster and juggling more and more and it suddenly screeched to a halt.  Now is the time to decide what was working in your life and create more of that.  The things that weren’t working need to go.  If you fill life up with the good stuff there is less room for what you don’t want.

Too many appointments booked after work? Feeling over scheduled? Saying “yes” when you want to say “no”?  Spread out appointments and book them so they don’t feel like a full time job.  Less running around means more down time for you and a happier life and who doesn’t want that!

Kimberley is the owner of Kimberley Gunning Counselling in Niagara

For appointments contact 905-353-5343 or email: kimberleygunning@yahoo.com