With now being a historic time in this world's history, I have been doing some contemplation and evaluation. I think that this pandemic should be learned from. I think that having gone through something like this, we should all come through the other side with a few lessons learned, and a new way of looking at things.
Let's see what can be learned from COVID-19...
Let's see what can be learned from COVID-19...
1. Plan all you want, but sometimes things are just beyond your control.
I am looking directly at myself in the mirror with this one! I am a known control freak. I at all times have not only my 10 year plan and my 5 year plan, but my 1 year plan, and my 3 month plan, and a to do list for everything I need to do and want to accomplish every single day of the week! But with a virus impacting the entire earth, and a quarantine suddenly mandated, I had to put all my plans on hold (along with the rest of the world). This was a great reminder for me that yes, I can plan a lot of things in my life, but there are always going to be curve balls that will be thrown...and I need to be ok with this! And I really think I am...
I am looking directly at myself in the mirror with this one! I am a known control freak. I at all times have not only my 10 year plan and my 5 year plan, but my 1 year plan, and my 3 month plan, and a to do list for everything I need to do and want to accomplish every single day of the week! But with a virus impacting the entire earth, and a quarantine suddenly mandated, I had to put all my plans on hold (along with the rest of the world). This was a great reminder for me that yes, I can plan a lot of things in my life, but there are always going to be curve balls that will be thrown...and I need to be ok with this! And I really think I am...
2. We really need to focus on what is important; family and health.
It usually takes something big to make you really stop and think about what is important to you. Don't miss this opportunity to look at the big picture, and remember what really matters.
It usually takes something big to make you really stop and think about what is important to you. Don't miss this opportunity to look at the big picture, and remember what really matters.
3. Take time to slow down.
We are all just sooooooo busy anymore, myself included, that this was a great time to just sloooooow doooown...
This was a great reminder that we need to take it easy every once in a while! We can not just keep going going going at the crazy pace we are, nonstop, constantly stressed, worried, and over-worked! Didn't you enjoy even just a little bit of quarantine? Suddenly spending lots of time with people that you hardly saw before (before quarantine, my husband and I didn't have a single day off together! The only time we saw each other was the once a week trip to the grocery store together after work, and maybe I would be awake when he got home some nights!), getting to sleep in, wear pajamas all day, eat cereal for supper, drink before noon, you know, actually relax and enjoy life! Once this is all over, we need to try and fit some of this relaxing and enjoying back into our busy schedules.
4. Have an emergency fund.
I personally think the single biggest lesson we can learn from COVID-19 is the importance of having an emergency fund! I know that people did receive stimulus checks, unemployment, and all that sort of thing, but can you imagine how less stressful these past 3 months would have been if you would have had 3 months worth of living expenses sitting in the bank?!
Ask any financially savvy person, and they will tell you that an emergency fund is essential. They usually say 3-6 months of living expenses is what you should have squirreled away. And it's not hard to do! I had saved up 3 month's personal living expenses about half a year before it all hit the fan, and I am completely beyond grateful that I did! Because of COVID-19 I lost one of my jobs, but it was not a big deal! I paid all of April through June's rent (yes I paid June's rent early!), and bought groceries for March-May using my emergency fund! I truly don't know what I would have done without my emergency fund.
So once this is all over, sit down and figure out what 3-6 months expenses are, and then start stashing away! You never know when the next rainy day will hit, but you will be prepared.
We are all just sooooooo busy anymore, myself included, that this was a great time to just sloooooow doooown...
This was a great reminder that we need to take it easy every once in a while! We can not just keep going going going at the crazy pace we are, nonstop, constantly stressed, worried, and over-worked! Didn't you enjoy even just a little bit of quarantine? Suddenly spending lots of time with people that you hardly saw before (before quarantine, my husband and I didn't have a single day off together! The only time we saw each other was the once a week trip to the grocery store together after work, and maybe I would be awake when he got home some nights!), getting to sleep in, wear pajamas all day, eat cereal for supper, drink before noon, you know, actually relax and enjoy life! Once this is all over, we need to try and fit some of this relaxing and enjoying back into our busy schedules.
4. Have an emergency fund.
I personally think the single biggest lesson we can learn from COVID-19 is the importance of having an emergency fund! I know that people did receive stimulus checks, unemployment, and all that sort of thing, but can you imagine how less stressful these past 3 months would have been if you would have had 3 months worth of living expenses sitting in the bank?!
Ask any financially savvy person, and they will tell you that an emergency fund is essential. They usually say 3-6 months of living expenses is what you should have squirreled away. And it's not hard to do! I had saved up 3 month's personal living expenses about half a year before it all hit the fan, and I am completely beyond grateful that I did! Because of COVID-19 I lost one of my jobs, but it was not a big deal! I paid all of April through June's rent (yes I paid June's rent early!), and bought groceries for March-May using my emergency fund! I truly don't know what I would have done without my emergency fund.
So once this is all over, sit down and figure out what 3-6 months expenses are, and then start stashing away! You never know when the next rainy day will hit, but you will be prepared.
5. Mother Nature is really in charge. Respect her and her awesome-ness.
Us humans may think that we are top dog and we rule all, but COVID taught us otherwise. Mother Nature is awesome. She has the power to bring the entire planet to its knees.
So show a little respect eh?
Us humans may think that we are top dog and we rule all, but COVID taught us otherwise. Mother Nature is awesome. She has the power to bring the entire planet to its knees.
So show a little respect eh?
6. With humans out of the way, the earth can, and will heal itself.
I know I'm not the only one who has watched in awe as Mother Nature has begun to heal herself- people in India seeing the Himalayas for the first time in decades as lockdown eases air pollution, and the crazy decrease of air pollution in China, amongst other places.
So when this is all over, why don't we stay out of her way a little more; work from home a couple days a week (we now know that lots of us can!), stay in one weekend a month, offset your emissions, and give Mother Nature the love and respect she deserves.
I know I'm not the only one who has watched in awe as Mother Nature has begun to heal herself- people in India seeing the Himalayas for the first time in decades as lockdown eases air pollution, and the crazy decrease of air pollution in China, amongst other places.
So when this is all over, why don't we stay out of her way a little more; work from home a couple days a week (we now know that lots of us can!), stay in one weekend a month, offset your emissions, and give Mother Nature the love and respect she deserves.
7. Getting back to simpler times is not a bad thing.
You don't have to be a character in a Laura Ingalls Wilder novel, but staying at home for a couple months has shown us that getting back to simpler times is not only awesome, but essential! Whether simpler times to you means when you were a kid in the 80's and 90's and played all day (with no cell phones!), learning basic 50's housewife skills, or living in Little House on the Prairie, in order to move forward, we must look back.
You don't have to be a character in a Laura Ingalls Wilder novel, but staying at home for a couple months has shown us that getting back to simpler times is not only awesome, but essential! Whether simpler times to you means when you were a kid in the 80's and 90's and played all day (with no cell phones!), learning basic 50's housewife skills, or living in Little House on the Prairie, in order to move forward, we must look back.
8. We need to find some hobbies that do not involve going out.
From the number of memes I saw about it, during quarantine I think people were starting to realize that they needed to acquire a hobby that does not involve going out and spending money! Whether it was a serious thought or just a joke, it is true!
We all need to find hobbies that not only make us happy, but enrich our lives, and make us a more fun and interesting person! Anyone can go out 3 times a week to drink margaritas, but can everyone play an accordion? Point proven!
Pick up a hobby that brings you happiness; Sew, craft, crochet, learn to play an instrument, start a blog, garden, cook, learn a new language, become a puzzle fiend, read, extravagantly decorate your house, write the next great American novel!
The possibilities are truly endless, and eternally rewarding.
From the number of memes I saw about it, during quarantine I think people were starting to realize that they needed to acquire a hobby that does not involve going out and spending money! Whether it was a serious thought or just a joke, it is true!
We all need to find hobbies that not only make us happy, but enrich our lives, and make us a more fun and interesting person! Anyone can go out 3 times a week to drink margaritas, but can everyone play an accordion? Point proven!
Pick up a hobby that brings you happiness; Sew, craft, crochet, learn to play an instrument, start a blog, garden, cook, learn a new language, become a puzzle fiend, read, extravagantly decorate your house, write the next great American novel!
The possibilities are truly endless, and eternally rewarding.
9. Quarantine can help bring out the truth-are you really happy?
During quarantine we all saw everyone complaining about being stuck at home. Most were just jokes and memes to distract us from the scary things happening all around us, but there were people who were absolutely miserable being at home. Some of them are the same people that you used to see constantly complaining about work, and working only for the weekend. And now here they are, a (possibly paid) vacation from work, complaining about how bored and miserable they are being at home. If that was you, take time to re-evaluate your life. What will it take to make you happy? If you are truly miserable at your job, what would you like to do instead? If being at home was a real bummer, why is that-is it dirty and uncomfortable? Do you dislike your neighbors or roommate? Are you lonely? Are you bored? Get off your butt and clean your house top to bottom, hire a professional decorator who can turn it into your dream home, get a new roommate, move, get a dog, pick up a hobby, whatever it takes for you to finally be happy!
This is your wake up call!
And it only took a pandemic to get your attention :)
During quarantine we all saw everyone complaining about being stuck at home. Most were just jokes and memes to distract us from the scary things happening all around us, but there were people who were absolutely miserable being at home. Some of them are the same people that you used to see constantly complaining about work, and working only for the weekend. And now here they are, a (possibly paid) vacation from work, complaining about how bored and miserable they are being at home. If that was you, take time to re-evaluate your life. What will it take to make you happy? If you are truly miserable at your job, what would you like to do instead? If being at home was a real bummer, why is that-is it dirty and uncomfortable? Do you dislike your neighbors or roommate? Are you lonely? Are you bored? Get off your butt and clean your house top to bottom, hire a professional decorator who can turn it into your dream home, get a new roommate, move, get a dog, pick up a hobby, whatever it takes for you to finally be happy!
This is your wake up call!
And it only took a pandemic to get your attention :)
10. Time is not what is holding us back from doing what we want.
We humans always seem to blame time for all our problems. And while time can be a real son of a gun, we can't pretend, and blame it for this, any longer.
"If I only had the time, I would"... write that book, clean the house, start eating healthier, learn to play the piano, get back into shape, write that letter, and a thousand other things. I know this is something we all say, but now that we have found time (and lots of it), have you actually done any of the things you have spent years been blaming Father time for not doing? If not, dig until you get to the bottom of it.
We humans always seem to blame time for all our problems. And while time can be a real son of a gun, we can't pretend, and blame it for this, any longer.
"If I only had the time, I would"... write that book, clean the house, start eating healthier, learn to play the piano, get back into shape, write that letter, and a thousand other things. I know this is something we all say, but now that we have found time (and lots of it), have you actually done any of the things you have spent years been blaming Father time for not doing? If not, dig until you get to the bottom of it.
Until next time my friends, stay safe out there, take these lessons to heart, and live your best life <3
Peace Love and COVID-19
Jess <3
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