I've Got New Rules
Looking back to my goals from the beginning of this month seems like a completely different universe. While coronavirus in China has been on our radar from the beginning, the idea of it spreading to every country on the globe did not occur to me- maybe because SARS, MERS and H1N1 were such small blips on the global scene.
The first death was reported here today, a local man in his late 40s who lived in our area and frequented many of the places we do just a week ago. Local establishments are shutting down to deep clean, restaurants are shutting down due to lack of cash. The place we take the kids to the beach is closed for cleaning, which is the only public place we have been in the past few weeks.
Closed for deep cleaning…
Since schools have been closed, I have swiftly transitioned from Lady who Lunches to Stay-At-Home mom, also occasionally taking on two other neighborhood kids whose parents are attempting to work from home. This has only reinforced what I already knew: being home with kids all day is not my thing.
So, how did I do with my March goals? I had thought they would give me some flexibility to travel (which is no longer possible, sorry safari) but still with a kid constantly on top of me I fell short.
Write every weekday
Nope. No way. I need somewhat uninterrupted concentration to write anything. I did manage a couple of things while my daughter watched Mr. Rogers, but I’ve been using my free time first to do yoga so I don’t kill someone. The other issue is that I spend way too much time on the computer (and my phone) obsessively reading The Washington Post.
2. Complete 2 online courses
I sort of did this- while I dropped out of Fundamentals of Graphic Design due to boredom (guess I’m not cut out to be a graphic designer- sad, because it seems so cool…), I completed and even got a certificate in Google Analytics for Beginners at Google Analytics Academy - it’s free!
I sort of almost finished the Science of Wellbeing - except the last 4 weeks of the 10-week class that I wanted to crunch into a month and a half (and didn’t do for a week or two…) was about actually doing one of the things that is supposed to make you happier:
Signature Strengths - using your top character strengths in new ways
Gratitude - (List and/or Letter) - expressing gratitude for the people and things in your life
Savoring - taking time to savor the things you enjoy
Kindness - increasing your acts of kindness
Social Connection - making connections with strangers and acquaintances along with scheduling time for the people in your life
Exercise - increasing your physical activity to at least 30 minutes a few times a week
Sleep - making sure you sleep at least 7 hours a night several times a week
Meditation - meditating for 5-10 minutes if you are a beginner or increasing your time in meditation if you already meditate regularly
To find your signature strengths, you can take a free quiz here. My top one is Judgement, which I suppose I am using every day we remain here...one of my lowest is gratitude so I guess choosing that to work on that wouldn’t be using my strengths…a catch 22?
I’m already pretty good at savoring, since there are many things I enjoy that require significant effort to find here, like good chocolate, or berries, or mushrooms. I’m also good at sleeping, it’s one of my main hobbies.
Kindness and social connection are really important right now. It has been nice to see so many in the ex-pat community here come together to help and support each other. We are mostly self-quarantining with three other families with kids who we saw all the time pre-pandemic, which has kept my sanity. If lockdowns get stricter, this will be less possible
Even post-Kilimanjaro, I’ve been pretty good at getting some exercise on most days. No more walking in boots, but I am either swimming in the ocean (or in pools with kids hanging on me) or doing Yoga with Adriene.
So, meditation is what is left, and something I have thought about doing for a while because everything says it makes you a better person. The course says it doesn’t have to be the kind of meditation where you think of nothing, which I am terrible at. It is more about focusing on something and not having your mind wander, so it can be focusing on your breath during yoga or doing a guided gratefulness meditation (two birds one stone?) or even gratitude meditation yoga (three birds?!).
My old rules for myself as an early retiree were to every day leave the house, exercise, and not to watch more than 2 hours of TV. As one or two of those might not be possible/prudent soon, I’ve got new rules:
I will go outside for at least 10 minutes every day
I will do yoga or meditate every day
I will reach out to a person I haven’t talked to in a while every day
As for April's goals: to get my 4-year-old to actually wash her hands correctly and for all of us to get out of here alive!