3 things i learned from the stay at home order

nMany times, our lives become so busy that we forget or don’t make the time to reflect on what is going on, the good and the bad. With the stay at home order, we now have had the time made for us. There is only so much organizing, cleaning, and home renovation projects you can do until you are left with your own personal thoughts. Maybe with the extra time, you picked up a new hobby, or you learned something about a family member or spouse that you did not know before, or you discovered a new interest that you did not know you had. I am going to list 3 things that I have learned since the stay home order was placed.

1. SLOW DOWN! Sometimes I find myself trying to do everything on my list before a certain time, or before the end of the day that as a result my quality of work may suffer. It’s easy to wear the “I’m too busy” badge with honor, however, being “too busy” means we are not simplifying focus. If your goal is to clean out the garage, make sure you sweep, organize, recycle, replace broken items, etc. All of this takes TIME to do a good job. If your goal is to get done as fast as you can rather than to have a spectacularly clean garage, then it will not result in the greatest end product. Slowing down allows us to focus on one thing at a time.
2. OUR ENVIRONMET IS BEAUTIFUL. When something that we take for granted is taken away from us, we realize how much it meant to us. Extended family gatherings, going out to eat, taking kids to the park, concerts, graduation parties, hanging out with friends, watching sporting events, exercising at the gym; all of this is important to us but we take it for granted. We are social beings; human interaction is necessary to our existence. Even self-proclaimed introverts agree they miss being out and about. I hope that (eventually) when the coronavirus is a distant memory, that we still feel this desire to get outside, help each other, support small business, interact with one another, and join in on new experiences. Our natural environment as well as our social environment is a beautiful thing, and we can’t waste it.
3. YOUR MINDSET MATTERS. There are two kinds of people going through 'self-isolation' right now. People who will sleep in all day, eat what they want and take a vacation from their health. Then there are people who are going to use this time to become a better version of themselves. They will eat right, exercise now that they have the time, etc. Your mindset matters. After all of this is over, seek to come out of it being a better person.