Forever the optimist, I believe that a blessing always emerges out of something terrible. Coronavirus is horrible and scary, but I have noticed a few things during this quarantine. People are enjoying nature more, spending quality time with their loved ones, being more creative and inventive, simplifying their lives, taking naps ?, appreciating their health, and learning new things like how to cook, cut hair, teach, or sew. They are also stepping up to help others, checking on their neighbors, sharing resources, sending actual cards to nursing homes ?, and talking to God. We took so many things for granted- abundance of food, freedom to go out as we choose, and our health. My question is, why weren’t we doing this all along? Maybe God or the Earth is angry and this is our wake-up call; one last chance to change the future of our beloved planet. Perhaps we should pay attention.
these times are not for people with anxiety!
I have anxiety and my heart races just with thoughts of dreaded things that are upcoming. I am older and this just started recently-in the past 3 years because of many things in my life that are just not controllable. I have always been a “fixer” and I cannot “fix” what is going on around me today; this causes me sleepless nights and crying jags. The one thing that keeps going through my mind with all this chaos is, “Will the world ever be normal again?”
i.e.-Will we want to wear masks for a long time after this is done because we don’t trust officials to judge if it is safe? Will the job market recover? Is this the next Depression? How many will die? Will family or friends that I know die from this? If many people get sick in this rural area, how will we have enough ventilators? Will I die from this? These thoughts have caused me to update my obituary and death instructions and tell my family where they are located. I am not afraid of dying but I would like to stick around to see my grand children grow up. I also worry about my brother and daughter in law who work in healthcare. My Mom is in a nursing home with dementia and Parkinsons, will this take her life? If she does get COVID-19, will I be allowed in to see her in her final hours? I haven’t seen her since March 6th because of the lockdown at her facility. She doesn’t understand any of this and thinks we just left her there to die. She is angry and lashing out at the nurses and aides. I don’t want her to die with that frame of mind, in turmoil.
We moved in with my mother in law a year ago and she has dementia also. She is very confused, and is shocked by the death tolls everyday but she only understands that no one can find toilet paper at the store. It is funny the way the mind protects people from the evil in this world. I asked our Pastor to Facetime with her today because when he prays with her it seems to give her peace. What will give me peace though?