“Normal life is highly structured for most people. This is because of the routine of
going to work, social interactions, and the like. The loss of these rhythms means that
we are almost lost in time because we don’t have our usual cues
to what day it is, or even what time of day it is.”
— Ruth S. Ogden, PhD
Liverpool John Moores University
At the beginning of the Pandemic, when the crisis was fresh and everything uncertain, we all moved quickly, in a sprint, to re-align our lives and work-lives to stay safe, yet keep the “presses running”.
I quickly realized that the ‘sprint of adaptation’ was to become a ‘marathon’ of patience, flexibility, thoughtful decision-making, frustration and plodding. I needed to label the experience as a ‘marathon’ as I have always been attracted to metaphors as a way of softening the language around complexity and challenge. Metaphors also help me to create a mindset that I can maintain.
I shared my metaphor of the ‘marathon’ in blogs. It was very clear to me that we were in for an experience that would be longer than anticipated and for which I had not trained entirely. I asked and your shared your strategies for the marathon you were undertaking and how you would adapt while in progress.
Our conversations helped me to make my way through the first months of fresh experiences and into the first winter of the pandemic. Thank you.
Here we are in the second winter of the pandemic. We maintain COVID protocols of masking and social distancing. We have vaccines and boosters. The virus is wily and morphing. And if we were treating this like a competition, I don’t know who is winning on any particular day. Is it us or it?
I don’t feel like I am competing with the virus. I am more likely just to be setting my goals based on how I want to live my life and what I need to be responsible for doing to make it all possible.
How are you setting your goals? Running your race?
Over this holiday weekend, I started to look ahead. I am coming to the conclusion that we are going to be living with the virus in some shape or form for many years to come. I am settling into that reality and letting it rest.
The acceptance of this future influences how I format my goals and plans. And I do love goal setting and planning!
At the beginning of the pandemic, I had many friends and colleagues who made good use of the gift of time we were given when we locked ourselves down and distanced ourselves. I, too, cleaned closets, organized files, prepared books for publication. I did not join the ‘get fit club.’ Instead, I started to use pints of Mitchell’s ice cream as a meal-replacement motivator.
Eventually, the weight showed up on my body but was not acknowledged because of the yoga pants I had come to wear daily and the feedback from the picture of myself on the zoom calls did not change dramatically. It wasn’t until the summer of abandon when we — with all with our vaccines — let ourselves go out and vacation that I really accepted my physical change.
Have you changed in any significant way during these two years?
My hair is now a natural color (silver) and an entirely different consistency (straight and smooth). FaceBook provides me with photos of previous years as a blond with wildly curly hair smiling for the phone camera while traveling somewhere different. I can still see my face but I don’t recognize the experiences so well. Will I ever return to that life and lifestyle?
I am planning for a life that includes work travel and visits to friends and family. I have amassed points and timeshare weeks to last a lifetime. I have made my list of places I want to visit and revisit. Yet today, it will all be on hold.
The marathon has turned into triathlon and I need to figure out how to participate in this new race. It requires me to change my strategy, add some new capabilities, and adjust my mindset. In this next phase of living, I will incorporate healthy eating into the mix. I have shed thirty of my COVID pounds and need to lose some more as the triathlon necessitates a leaner, more fit me.
How about you, what are you going to change in your approach to the new year?
Leslie
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”
— Charlie Brown, “Peanuts”
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