BEING MORE INTENTIONAL ABOUT VERY ORDINARY THINGS - TWENTY THREE

This is the twenty-third in a series of periodic reflections on the "ordinary things" that many people do on a regular basis without much thought. During this pandemic, I am developing a need to "rage, rage" against haste and laziness and replace it with care and attention. My hope is to become personally more intentional about doing ordinary things with care and focused attention, while inspiring others to maybe do the same.

SAFETY FATIGUE

Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

Like many other people these days, I am tired of this pandemic. It is exhausting, mentally and physically. I am tired of the anxiety, the fear of getting infected, the economic-related stress, the difficulty of handling social distancing restrictions and changes in daily life. I am tired of being cooped up, tired of being careful and tired of being scared. Sometimes I feel like just saying "to hell with this" and ignoring all the warnings. Of course, this is the very reason COVID-19 is rising sharply again in some places in the U.S - some people have grown careless about wearing masks and social distancing. For others, it is simply a case of hard-headed, ignorant and angry resistance.

There is research that defines the stages of stress on communities from disasters. From what I read, people like me are right on target. 

Early during a disaster, communities tend to pull together, support each other and bond together. Remember the first weeks of the stay-at-home orders when everyone in the neighborhood waved at everyone else? 

Eventually, that heroic spirit wears thin, stress begins to build and we hit a period of disillusionment when we lose our optimism and start having negative, angry reactions.  

This seems to be where we are right now as a country. Many of us are exhausted by it all and have started saying to ourselves, "I don't care if I get COVID-19. I would rather get sick than stay home and be careful." Because it appears that this pandemic could last a while, I am tempted, but so far I haven't given into these feelings. 

There are things we can do and I have been doing some of them. First, I have been on the treadmill almost every day and I have taken walks in the cemetery near my house with a few friends. They say exercise releases endorphins and gets some of the adrenaline out when frustration builds. Second, I write and I talk to people on the phone, skype and what's app because saying it out loud helps release some of the stress. Third, what hurts more than the situation itself is how we think about the situation. I am trying to think positively by encouraging myself to "hang in there." Limiting the amount of news I watch each day helps me from drowning in the negativity and staying afloat. I need to hear the facts, but I don't need to overdose on them. I try to remind myself to take it one day at a time, to stay in the present rather than letting my mind race off into some misery-ridden future or some unretrievable past. 

We don't have to seal ourselves in a bubble, but we do have to act sensibly, follow the CDC guidelines and encourage one another to "keep on keepin' on!" Most of all, realizing that we were probably moving too fast in the past, we need to learn to chill, to take it easy and to go with the flow!"  I know from the experience of watching a good friend drown right in front of me that the worst thing one can do in a situation like that is to panic. The secret to surviving is learning to relax so that you can float to safety!