Rise To The Challenge

I don’t enjoy being stuck inside.

I don’t enjoy having my movements restricted.

I’m sad that I can’t visit relatives when I would like to.

I regret that I had to cancel my travel plans for the year.

I lament the fact that I can’t go to the shows or concerts that I wanted to see this year.

I’m not thrilled to see my hair growing like an out of control weed patch.

I would love to go outside. I would love to go out for a coffee and enjoy a walk in the park. I would love for things to return to normal.

I’d love to get a haircut. I would love to go to the beach. I would love to enjoy a relaxed mid-afternoon meal at one of my favorite restaurants.

I would love to travel. I would love to see a movie on the big screen. I would love to run all over the city snapping pictures. 

I would love to work out in a gym. I would love to enjoy the view from my office tower, even just one more time. I would love to take a coffee break with my colleagues.

I would love to see friends. I would love to fly on a plane. I would love to schedule overdue appointments with my dentist and the eye doctor.

I can’t do those things right now. I have to accept that there are limits to what we can do safely during a deadly pandemic. Acting impulsively or recklessly would be irresponsible. I could put my health at risk. My actions could endanger loved ones and the people in the community.

This virus has brought immense challenges to our daily lives, but we can’t stop living. Providence is not going to grant us an extra year down the road just because we had to deal with a crisis today. We have to do what we can and enjoy the time and the opportunities that we have while we have them.

Everyone’s situation is different. Everyone faces a unique set of difficulties in the quest to regain a sense of normalcy and live a productive life. Here’s how I am approaching the crisis.

I started working remotely. I’ve never worked from home before. I enjoy the energy of working in an office with a team, but that’s no longer an option.

I plan my shopping trips so I don’t have to leave home often.

I developed an exercise routine that I can do in the confines of a city apartment.

I bought an espresso machine and a water filter, so I no longer have to go outside looking for things to drink.

I prioritize what’s important.

I use my free time work on projects from my backlog.

I order takeout from my favorite neighborhood restaurants from time to time. I want to help keep them going.

I meet with my friends on Zoom and keep in touch with people in a variety of ways.

I have made peace with the realization that my hair is heading back to the 1970’s. I lived with it then; I can live with it now.

I’m taking a long-term view. If I want to travel or visit a museum or see a Broadway show, I can do those things next year, or the following year. There’s no rush. There will be time to do lots of nice things when it’s safe for everyone to get together again. The time that we have now, we can use in other ways.

Above all, I try to keep in mind that limitations, despite being confining and maddening and uncomfortable, present us with opportunities, opportunities to grow, opportunities to try new things and branch out in new directions, opportunities to interact with new people in new and exciting ways, opportunities to explore parts of ourselves that we haven’t been utilizing fully.

I realize that life is frustrating right now. It’s frustrating for me. It’s frustrating for everyone. The circumstances are what they are, and they’re not going to change anytime soon. 

But WE can change. We can adapt. We can discover through the parameters of these significant challenges opportunities that we had never considered. We can find in these difficult times a bounty of inner strength that we never realized that we had.

The crisis will pass. All of this will be a distant memory. What we do to rise to the challenge will be ours forever.