Are you feeling isolated?

Most people here in Michigan are heading into at least their second week of social distancing and staying at home. The kids and college students may be home from school and some people may have the luxury of working remotely, but that isn't the case for everyone. There are many people who are still required to venture out to work; health care workers, firefighters, EMTs, police officers, those who work at grocery stores, gas stations, etc. Regardless of where you find yourself right now, HOW ARE YOU FEELING? Are you feeling anxious? Bored? Frustrated? Isolated?

Whatever you are feeling is normal and you are most definitely not alone. What can you do to try and keep some sense of normalcy in an otherwise unsure time? (Disclaimer: these suggestions aren't medically proven, just my opinion for it's worth.)

• Stay busy. Be productive at home, but also be purposeful about carving out some personal time for yourself.

• Don't watch the news for a few hours before you go to bed. You can't allow yourself to get caught up in information overload. Whatever is shared on the news at 10:00 p.m. will surely be repeated at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. You need your sleep.

• Not used to working at home or sharing a space with someone? Be sure to take breaks or work in shifts. Create a fictitious co-worker that you can blame the messy desk on, lol.

• I know a lot of people would argue with me about this one, but try and stick to a routine. Make your bed and get dressed! I've seen all the memes on social media about changing out of your daytime pjs into your nighttime pjs, lol. Don't get sucked in to the 'I don't care who sees me' mentality ... just walk into your bathroom and look in the mirror. Is that who you really want to look at?

• Get outside and get some fresh air. Walk to your mailbox. Clean any wind-blown debris up from your yard. Take a walk and stay 6 feet away from other people, but still wave at your neighbors and your mail carrier.

The truth of the matter is that we don't how long this Covid-19 part of our lives will go on for. We can probably safely assume though that things will get worse before they get better. That's being said we all need to remember to be patient, to be kind, to call or email or text our friends and family to check in with them routinely, and be creative when we need to be (with our meals, with our activities, etc.)

How are you feeling?

How are you passing your time?

It Won't Always Be This Way

Unless you've been living under a rock lately you've got to realize the world is going through some crazy and unsettling times right now. The Coronavirus has mostly everyone on edge to one degree or another. Some people are nervous about self-quarantines, anxious about having their kids out of school, the potential for many working remotely from home, people being temporarily without work, people being exposed to the virus or potentially exposing someone else ... the list is endless.

In the end, we need to know the ONLY real things we can control are our own hygiene and our attitudes. How we choose to handle things says a lot about us. It's true that our actions speak louder than our words. Whether you are taking the pandemic super seriously or think 'things are blown out of proportion' is your choice. I am certainly not here to tell you how to think or how to act. Your conscience is your own, but try to think about not just how your choices and actions affect you but also how they may be affecting those around you.

What things can we do during this time? We can continue to communicate ... with our families, with our church communities, with our friends, and with our neighbors. We need, now more than ever, to stay connected. We may not be able to physically check in on some people, but we can pick up the phone and send a text or actually call someone and see how they are doing. People still need contact with other people. We can pray for each other and we can take the time to listen.

It won't always be this way. Things may get worse before they better, but things are temporary and we'll see what we're made of. In the meantime, think of things to do to stay busy at home. We all tend to say how busy we are, we have To Do lists and schedules, and we have responsibilities. I know I generally have a hard time making any kind of real time for myself. In the midst of all this uncertainty I am extra thankful today for 2 special things; things I usually would not take the time for. I got a book (a large one at that) from the library a week ago. Sadly, I usually find myself renewing it after my 3-week deadline because I didn't make time to finish it. Today I got an email from my local library that they will be temporarily closed and are extending ALL due dates by 3 weeks. It may sound silly to some people (those of you who can read a book in a day), but to me it was a huge sign of graciousness saying 'You're going to have the time to actually finish this book now. Take your time and enjoy it.' The second thing is a few weeks ago I purchased an adult paint-by-number canvas. Yesterday I set up my 'studio space' in my basement and painted for 2 straight hours. It was therapeutic to say the least. I think I'll say this piece of art work is from my 'leveling the curve' period.

In the days ahead ... stay calm, stay busy, stay focused, and keep the faith.

What will you be doing to keep busy?

Should you or shouldn't you?

How often do you make a decision to do or not do something and make the mistake of telling someone about it beforehand? Okay, now how often do you change your mind and then feel obligated to stick to your first decision because if you don't you think people will judge you? Will they think you don't have the stamina or will power to stick to a decision? Will they think you are wishy-washy? Will they think you don't know how to make up your mind? Will they say, 'Oh I've heard that before?' 

Sometimes the truth of the matter is that in order to make the right decision about something we need to weigh out all of our options; weighing the pros and cons. One day we may think one side outweighs the other more, but just like the weather our opinions can change just as fast. Often we need to talk about it with others and get their opinion to truly know where we stand. But as with any other conversation if we aren't 100% sure where we stand on something we can be easily swayed one way or the other based on the input we receive.

I recently made some decisions, not big 'change the world' ones, but important ones all the same. They involved things I was doing and how much of my time I was putting into them. I was thinking of things I could cut back on to give myself more time for other things I want to do. I stepped back from one project and felt at peace with the decision. Another project presented itself and I nearly stepped back from it as well, but after deeper thought realized I would be giving up more than I wanted and it was worth the time I was putting in to it. But in the process I talked through it with a few people. When I changed my course of action I felt guilty to some extent like I had to go with my original plan since I had been semi-committed to it. But then I thought about it and figured, 'Oh well'. If I was making a wrong decision it was MY decision to make and MY time that would be at stake ... and I could live with that. If anyone thought less of me for it, I was okay with that too.

Sometimes when we are in conversation with people we need to just be a sounding board. We need to give people the flexibility and freedom to change their minds (several times if needed); whatever it takes to be supportive. In the end the decisions people make are theirs and theirs alone. Some decisions are easy to make and others can be very difficult. Let's give our opinion when asked and just listen when needed.

Do you ever have a hard time making certain decisions?

How do you get to a place where you feel comfortable and confident with your decisions?

Do you think everything through by yourself or do you talk it through with a friend or co-worker to get their input?