Tag: Lifestyle

Posted on

Ask Dr. Renae: Worried about the cost of the COVID school gap

Dear Dr. Renae,

I hear some teachers commenting on this school year being a lost year and all the students winding up a year behind. I am aware that I didn’t learn as much as I would have since online was not as good as in person for some subjects. I worry about being prepared for college entrance exams and college coursework. I am even more worried about my younger sister who is struggling to learn how to read. I notice how frustrated the teachers are as well. Many of my peers are upset about missing out on social activities but I am thinking about my future. Am I weird for worrying about my education?

Unprepared High School Junior

Dear Unprepared High School Junior,

It is completely normal to be worried about your education! Education is a major cornerstone in our lives, so I understand where you are coming from. It helps to remem-ber that every person in the world is facing the same issue that is happening to you, and so I believe people will be more mindful and understanding of the circumstances you have come from. You could not control the cards you were dealt, and educators know that. It is my belief that they will have to be accommodating to any issues that may arise from online education, if they would want to dutifully fulfill their jobs. Hopefully, I assuaged some of your fears, and I wish you the best of luck in your academic journey.

Your Fellow Teen

Dear Unprepared High School Junior,

It’s completely understandable being concerned about your academics. Commendable, even. Whilst students have been heavily affected by this pandemic, it’s important to re-main optimistic. Junior year is a crucial time for prospective university students but with everything going on, universities might be lenient with requirements. Now is also a fantastic time to build your student resumé. If you haven’t already decided on a university, now is the perfect time to take a look and reach out to universities. This is the fun part! As far as preparation goes, there’s plenty of practice SAT samplequestions available online as well as books to read. It’s important to be studious but not too hard on yourself. Stay safe!

A Caring Friend

Dear Unprepared Junior,

You are not weird for worrying about your education at all. From reading your submission, I can tell you care about your education which is really important. Since I’m not in college just yet, I asked my 25-year-old sister for some advice I could give you. The best thing she told me was from her college experience, as long as you keep up your studying, work ethic and motivation, you will be fi ne. To tell you the truth, she told me that high school did not prepare her for college; college prepared her for college. Stressing right now over something you don’t know will happen will drive you crazy! It’s best to start good habits during online school that you can later use in college. I hope this helps!

Your Friend

Dear Unprepared Junior,

It is true that most students did not learn as much academic curriculum as they would have if school was in person as usual. The timing and speed at which learning takes place, however, is not indicative of future happiness and success. Many professionals took an unexpected alternative path and timeline in preparing for their career which helped better lead them toward  success. Struggling with the lifestyle changes required during the pandemic has given you an opportunity to learn much more than academics. Conquering boredom and anxiety, along with navigating a new daily structure has taught you flexibility, creativity, and perseverance. Those skills help you to be significantly prepared for college as well as your future. Take pride in the personal growth you have experienced in order to acquire more confidence in your ability to adapt to the future.

Dr. Renae

 

TEENS: Curious as to what other teens would say? If you have a question or problem you would like to present to other teens, please email: askdrrenae@att.net and include your age, grade, and gender you identify with. All questions are published anonymously and your identity and contact information will be kept confidential.

PARENTS OF TEENS: Would you like to anonymously and confidentially ask the panel of teen Peer Counseling Writers to comment on a parenting issue you are struggling with? If you are ready for a variety of honest opinions from real teens, please address your questions to askdrrenae@att.net.

Dr. Renae Lapin, a licensed marriage and family therapist with 40 years experience, currently maintains a private practice in Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information about Dr. Renae and her practice, visit her website: https://askdrrenae.com

 

Posted on

One year anniversary of COVID-19

Believe it or not, March marks a year since our lives changed drastically. At the beginning of March 2020, COVID-19 spread throughout the world, requiring individuals to forgo their usual routines and adapt to a new lifestyle. Now, a year later, we are living our lives very differently.

Not only are we more conscious of our surroundings, but we are more hygienic. For example, if you go to a store or a gym, you will see employees or trainers sanitizing equipment and merchandise every few minutes. We spend more time washing our hands and taking care of ourselves than we ever did before.

“I forgot my mask!” is a common phrase you catch yourself saying, and traveling out of the country or state is an all-too-real distant dream. With all the isolated time we have been given during the pandemic, we have learned how to slow down, organize our homes and closets way too  many times, bake banana bread, and enjoy the outdoors.

With all these new hobbies we have acquired, all we want to do is to continue living our lives the way we did a year ago, but it is not that simple.

University of Michigan senior, Donna Neuman, longs for an in person graduation ceremony more than anything. “I really just want a graduation and nothing else right now is important to me. My friends and I have turned a lot of negatives into positives; for example, instead of going out with friends we hang in together. Those things are replaceable, but graduating is not.”

Our lives have changed in many more ways than one. As we sit and reflect on the one-year anniversary of COVID-19, it is hard to believe that it has only been a year.

When I think about the timeline it almost feels like a century. Masks are a part of our uniform and getting tested for COVID is the new trend.

Since it is risky for older adults with health restrictions to spend time with their younger loved ones, we have utilized FaceTime or Zoom to still get our personal family time.

Fortunately, the vaccine has been distributed to many essential workers, and soon to the rest of the world.

With the new year, all we can hope for is to say goodbye to COVID-19 and hello to living. By March 2022, I hope for good health, love, and for our lives to be more adventurous and spent with the ones we love most.

Posted on

Can you catch a leprechaun?

St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year, so why not liven up hump day with these fun kid-tested activities? It’s easy to create a festive experience while still practicing COVID safety.

Start the morning with rainbow necklaces! Grab some yarn, tape, and your favorite colorful cereal and get those fine motor skills working. Tape one of the ends to make it easier to thread the O’s. The kids can wear, eat, and enjoy. If you’re lucky they’ll make one for you too!

Spread some joy. My kids love to leave surprise treats for their friends and neighbors. I found some inexpensive containers for them to fill with gold nuggets and printed off festive tags. It is a great excuse to hop on their bikes and get some exercise while delivering these small gifts.

The grand finale is a leprechaun scavenger hunt! The kit includes the clues, a hiding cheat sheet for the parents, and a pack of gold cookie “coins” as the treasure. The clues are simple and offer great reading and problem-solving practice. Hide the clues all around the house to get your kids running around. The sheer joy and sense of accomplishment as they find each clue will make your heart melt, and I think it makes the treasure taste even better.

Stay safe and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

For information on any of these activities contact:

Rachel Hunter of Celebrate You Events (@celebrate.you.events) – Party styling, scavenger hunt kit & banners

Amanda Fletcher of Cookies by Amanda (@cookiesbyamanda) – Scavenger hunt kit & Cookies

Daniela Herrera of Tulle & Tools (@tulleandtools) – Cake pops

Maribel Giraldo from Designs for You (@maribel_designsforyou) – Balloon garland

Posted on

Simple but savvy moves for heart health

This month is all about hearts, love, and adding a little TLC to your everyday life. February is American Heart Month. This month is dedicated to driving awareness around heart disease, or cardiovascular disease (CVD). These are the leading causes of many health-related issues that can not only affect your ability to work, but impact your overall quality of life.

It’s important to know that some of the at-risk factors to heart health issues include poor diet, being overweight and lack of physical activity. To ensure that you’re on the right track to improve or maintain a healthier heart, show yourself a little more love by following some of these recommended adjustments for improving your diet by managing your portions and staying active.

Improve your diet

• Start the day with a low-fat breakfast. Try these simple ideas:

• In an electric blender, process 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 cup vitaminwater zero, 1 6 oz. carton Greek Style yogurt, and 1⁄2 cup fresh or frozen fruit to make a fruit smoothie.

• Spread toasted multi-grain waffle with 1 tablespoon peanut butter.

• Top oatmeal with chopped apple, raisins, or 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts.

• Eat every three to four hours or five to six times a day; this prevents you from becoming too hungry.

• Stay hydrated, drink plenty of water –eight to ten glasses a day will keep you hydrated. If you are looking for hydrating options in addition to water, try flavored varieties such as vitaminwater zero or sparkling water. Most importantly, remember that all beverages hydrate. Thirst is an indicator of dehydration and sometimes thirst is confused with hunger.

• Include more fiber in your diet such as whole grain breads and cereals, beans, legumes, and nuts. Higher fiber will aid in helping you feel full.

• Include more vegetables and fruits—these too will help fill you up, and not out.

Manage weight with right-size portions

It’s important to have a good relationship with food, so my mantra is “all foods and beverages can fit into a balanced diet in moderation.” Below are some guidelines to help you keep portion control in mind and some products that can help you do so.

• Choose 3-oz. portions of lean meat, fish, or poultry. This is a serving about the size of a deck of cards.

• For fruits and vegetables, consider a portion about the size of a baseball. If you enjoy avocado, go for one-half of a medium avocado.

• Servings for grains, beans, and legumes should compare to the size of an adult fist.

• Beverages also come in perfectly-portioned sizes. Coca-Cola has mini-cans available at about 7.5 ounces.

Keep it moving

Regular physical activity and exercise can have long term positive effects along with reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. By getting your body moving, you can improve control of your weight, combat heart disease, increase your energy and mood, decrease stress, and improve your sex life.

Scheduling the time to exercise on your calendar will help make it part of your standard daily routine. If you cannot set aside a 30 to 45-minute block of time, do several 5-10-minute segments daily. The buddy system works well here—having a friend on board will help keep you both motivated and on task.

Take Away: Focus on heart health this month. Start to make life long changes to your lifestyle choices and show a little love to your heart and those you care about around you.

 

Posted on

Gym and fitness during a pandemic

With gyms closed, or at a limited capacity, many people have begun
to work out at home or outdoors. Even though this lets you work out when you want with no set time frames, it is often harder to get a good workout without proper equipment.

We always recommit ourselves to achieve our ideal selves every new year, and fitness and health are often a priority. Without a gym or crazy fad diet, is it possible to stay on track?

“When it comes to exercise, keep it simple,” says Nick Miller, a certified
personal trainer. “Just stay active, especially if you are not too familiar with programming your own workouts. Choose activities that you know how to do and keep you out of pain.”

If you are looking for a wide range of home workouts that will work every part of your body, explore YouTube.

With a click of a button, you can find great alternatives and exercises that do not require equipment.

Want to do an upper body workout? No problem. Search terms such as “upper equipment” or “arm workout no equipment” and a plethora of work out options will be available.

With no end in sight for our new normal, the new year is an excellent time to recommit to our goals and shed some excuses, along with pounds.

According to Miller, “The shutdown gave a lot of people an excuse not to work out, but since the economy opened back up, we have actually seen steady growth in the number of clients looking to improve their lifestyle.

“Being that we’re not a gym, clients are very comfortable in our private facility working one on one with their trainer or therapist.”

It all starts with you. An individual needs to be in the right mindset. Practice mindfulness exercises to focus on the mind and reduce anxiety.

If you fear going to the gym alone or have health restrictions, grab household items, and get creative with at-home workouts. By using items like a chair or couch, you can move your muscles and body in more ways than none.

If a person is looking to make a change to their well-being, they have to want it. Working out is only part of the plan. What a person puts into their body every day weighs more. There needs to be a balance of eating well and keeping active.

“Nutrition can get pretty involved. And every other week, there’s a new fad diet out there that doesn’t work in the long run.

“Sure, you can lose a lot of weight in the short term, but as soon as you start eating normally again, the weight starts coming back,” Miller said.

In the end, it depends on the individual, on what they want to do, and what they are comfortable with. By setting realistic goals and creating a consistent routine, individuals will be on their way to a healthier and happier 2021.

“My advice for someone looking to lose some weight without a fad. Eat less more often and keep it clean. Stay away from processed foods and refined sugars,” Miller said.

 

Posted on

New exhibits at Boca Raton Museum of Art

In keeping with the spirit of the times, the Boca Raton Museum of Art is hosting six new exhibitions, many of them featuring works by women and artists of color. Three exhibits opened in October and the other three will open Jan. 26, 2021.

Two shows were extended beyond the quarantine and will continue through Jan. 3: Edward Steichen: In Exaltation of Flowers, and Works on Paper: Drawn from the Collection.

“This year has been an unprecedented journey for cultural institutions,” says Irvin Lippman, executive director of the museum. “We are fortunate to be able to provide new initiatives and exhibitions and, most importantly, a safe haven for visitors — a place of repose and enjoyment.”

“Our latest exhibits are part of recent acquisitions underscoring that the museum’s collection continues to evolve with new works by women and artists of color who challenge us to see the world anew,” says Lippman.

One of those women is Jamaican-American artist Renee Cox, known for her collection, “Flipping the Script,” which speaks to race, religion, and gender roles.

Cox flips the script again in her new work titled, “The Signing,” part of the Museum’s latest exhibition. The 15-facetime. long photograph reimagines Howard Chandler Christy’s iconic painting, “Scene at The Signing of the Constitution of the United States.”

In Cox’s interpretation, people of color, wearing traditional African clothing and period clothing from the 1700s or contemporary items, stand in for the founding fathers.

Another artist of color – the late Benjamin Patterson, one of the founding members of the Fluxus art movement during the 1960s-70s, which claims Yoko Ono as one of its own, has his work, “My Thirteen Presidents,”showcased at the museum.

Patterson depicts American presidents, along with their astrological signs, who served during his lifetime (1934- 2016) from Roosevelt to Obama.

Also on display and spanning an entire wall in the first floor gallery is Norwegian artist, Trine Lise Nedreaas’s 22-minute three-panel synchronized film, “The Entertainers” featuring the video, “The Mask,” in which a subject, Arthur, transforms himself into his alter-ego, Arthuro the Clown.

On the museum’s second floor, Delray Beach-based ceramicist and steel sculptor, Jeff Whyman’s, “Out of Nature,” features a selection of his one-of-a-kind ceramics using clays from California and Washington, and fabricated in kilns from Illinois, Missouri, and Florida, all yielding different results.

Whyman creates his works all in one moment while the clay is still wet. He uses the wheel to throw his vessels while spontaneously adding a mix of materials: sea glass, Chinese crystals, and mineral oxides.

Coming in January are “Glasstress Boca Raton 2021,” featuring Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s Blossom chandelier sculpture, that will travel by boat from Italy to Boca Raton, “An Irresistible Urge to Create: The Monroe Family Collection of Florida Outsider Art,” and “Paul Gervais: Faces and Forms.”

Read more about all of the upcoming shows at bocamuseum.org/art/ upcoming-exhibitions.

 

 

Posted on

Organizing for the holidays

Spending time at home with family and friends during the holidays is a welcome respite for many of us. It’s a chance to spend quality time together, recharge, and reflect on our many blessings. As 2021 approaches, it’s a convenient time to think about how we can start the new year off on a good note and be more organized in all aspects of our lives.

This holiday season is a bit different. Our homes have become our classrooms, workspaces, and exercise areas. Designating “zones” in your home can help you stay focused on the task at hand.

Set up a “zone” in your home for work, school, or other activities that allow you to concentrate. Use a room divider to partition an open space to gain some privacy.

Stay focused with a timer. Distractions are inevitable whether you are at home, at the office, or elsewhere. A timer allows you to stay on track and get things done within the allotted time without being interrupted.

Declutter your home “hub” by setting reminders on your devices and committing to putting away toys, electronics, paper, and other items on a daily or weekly basis.

Donate unused, unwanted, or out of date items such as clothing, toys, or dry goods to your local charity or faith-based organization to make room for holiday gifts and purchases. Recycle obsolete consumer electronics such as cell phones, computers, and printers at your local electronics superstore, office retailer, or local recycling center.

If all of this feels overwhelming, enlisting the help of a Professional Organizer can help jump-start the process and provide you with the motivation, strategy, and expertise to tackle your home organizational challenges.

Organizing your life isn’t just about organizing the space in your home – it’s about accomplishing the goal of making your life simpler and easier so that you can spend more time doing the things you enjoy.

A Professional Organizer can provide you with a tailored and personalized organizational plan to accomplish your goals.

Consider the services of a Professional Organizer in 2021. Put your best foot forward and start your year off right.

Happy Holidays to you and your family from the
Lisa eOrganizer team!

Lisa Haubenstock is LisaTheOrganizer, a Professional Organizer and the owner of LisaTheOrganizer, LLC. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade & Palm Beach counties. She is a member of NAPO and serves on the board of the South residential organizing. Email Lisa at Lisa@lisatheorganizer.com.

Posted on

Apps can help keep you organized

November is about being thankful for everything: Health,
family, & friends.

This time of year can be stressful and challenging for many because they need a bit of organizational direction.

As an organizer, I’m constantly asked by friends and acquaintances how to get organized for Thanksgiving and the holiday season. My answer is simple: Plan ahead.

Let’s talk about Thanksgiving. As a result of the current pandemic, this November may not necessarily be about big Thanksgiving get-togethers, but you still may be hosting and you’ll need to start to get organized and plan.

Starting early and not waiting for the last moment is key.

1. Make lists of what you need to purchase. One of my favorite things to do is to use the Amazon Alexa app to create “shopping lists.” Not only can you create any type of list with Alexa, but you can tell her what to put on it. So as you are planning that recipe or hoping you’ll remember to buy a bouquet of flowers, just ask her to put it on your shopping list. This eliminates the need for a paper list (that inevitably gets left on the kitchen counter..lol) and it’s automatically populated in your Alexa app.

Another option to manage your to-do list is called TeuxDeux. It’s simple and doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles…try it!

2. Consider using an inventory app like Sortly. There are quite a few home inventory apps out there, and keeping track of your items and where they are in your home can be a tedious process. If you know what you have in your home and where it is, taking out what you need for any holiday or occasion will be a snap. You’ll be happy to avoid the headache of trying to find the things that you need at the last minute.

3. Thanksgiving brings us to the holiday season and everyone’s time is so precious.

To keep track of all of your online purchases, try an app that syncs with your Gmail app called Arrive. Not only will it track your online orders from Amazon and Walmart, but it will also give you status updates with UPS, USPS, FedEx and DHL.

No more searching through emails!

4. Trying to locate your holiday decorations can be challenging if you don’t have a “home” for them all. Consider organizing these items in clear, plastic, labeled bins. This will keep everything neat, tidy and you’ll always know where to find what you need.

Happy Holidays to you and your family from the Lisa eOrganizer team!

Lisa Haubenstock is a Professional Organizer and owner of LisaTheOrganizer, LLC. servicing Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. She is a member of NAPO and serves on the board of the South Florida chapter. She holds certificates in household management and residential organizing.

Email Lisa at Lisa@lisatheorganizer.com.

Posted on

SoFlo Gardening: November

What to plant:

Annuals/Bedding plants: Create a display of fall colors with cool-season plants. Some examples include impatiens, strawflower, cape daisy, and pansy.

Bulbs: Many bulbs like to get their start in cool weather. Bulbs to plant this month include amaryllis, crinum, and the many varieties of elephant ear.

Herbs: Continue planting herbs from seeds or plants. A wide variety of herbs like cooler, dryer weather, including cilantro, dill, fennel, parsley, sage, and thyme.

Vegetables: Lots of choices exist for November including beans, broccoli, kale, snow/English peas, and strawberries.


What to do:

Perennials: Divide and replant overgrown perennials and bulbs now so that they establish before the coolest weather arrives.

Lawns: Watch for brown patch and large patch until May. These fungal diseases cause areas of grass to turn brown. Since treatment is difficult, prevention with proper cultural practices is key.

Scale insects: Take advantage of lower temperatures to apply horticultural oil sprays to control scale insects.

Irrigation: Turn off systems and water only if needed. Plants need less supplemental watering in cooler weather.

Poinsettias: Watch for hornworms on poinsettias planted in the landscape. This pest can quickly defoliate a plant. Handpick or treat only the infested area.

Source: University of Florida IFAS Extension

Posted on

Wedding plans march on

Weddings are an important event and milestone. All across the world, couples have had to change wedding plans, details, and dates because of COVID-19. The pandemic has severely affected weddings, engagements, and the industry as a whole.

The Wedding Hero team

Jana Tobey, the owner of Wedding Hero, a full-service wedding company, has firsthand experience. “March 2020, at the height of COVID, I began my company. Initially, there were cancellations. March and April weddings moved to October. Now, as I am coming into the burrow months, we are finding that people are done canceling and want to get married.”

In light of COVID-19, Wedding Hero has taken the necessary precautions. “If a bride wants to do a big or small wedding, my team and I ensure that there are social distancing parameters. All employees are wearing masks. We do it out of respect for our guests to make them feel comfortable,” Tobey said.

In addition to postponing these dream weddings due to the COVID-19
pandemic, several people have delayed their ideal proposal.

Due to the pandemic shutting down South Florida, family-owned luxury jeweler, J.R. Dunn Jewelers, launched a giveaway for one lucky winner to “Say it Big” and propose in front of millions of people, on the busiest roadway in South Florida, I-95.

Patrick Callahan of Delray Beach, Florida, was the winner. Patrick planned an elaborate proposal for the love of his life, Taylor, after six years of being together.

On August 17th, 2020, Taylor thought she was going for a birthday
weekend trip to the Florida Keys with Patrick. On their way, they made a pit stop at the Deering Estate in Miami. Patrick led Taylor to the center of a beautiful setting and proposed to her with a solitaire diamond engagement ring from J.R. Dunn Jewelers.

Mr. and Mrs. Callahan

Taylor said yes!

After the proposal, the couple drove to a surprise dinner with all of their closest friends and family. On their way, they passed J.R. Dunn’s billboard reading, “Taylor, will you marry me?  Patrick” with one of their most coveted pictures together.

Taylor was in awe of the endless surprises Patrick had planned. “Love is not canceled! Whether we plan your intimate wedding of thirty now or continue to push forward to the wedding for 300 in the future, we WILL make it happen!” Tobey said.

We wish Mr. and Mrs. Callahan a huge congratulations and cheers to many more memorable moments.

Posted on

Try a ‘good enough’ parenting style

Everyone wants their children to grow into well-rounded, healthy, and connected individuals. Looking back, your parenting style has probably changed since the spring. Screen-time, playdates, and having food delivered were probably looked at a little differently. It may sound odd, but as a therapist, I help families build a “good enough” parenting style to help support children. The concept was created by English pediatrician Donald Woods Winnicott to help push back against the rise in striving for a perfect, flawless parent. These impossible goals are something we can start to let go of in 2020.

Break the on-demand cycle
Remember when you scheduled every after school moment with stimulating activities for your family? Do you recall that sinking feeling that you were failing as a parent? Well, you are good enough, just not perfect. At the start of the pandemic, you rallied resources and filled your kids’ lives with baking, board games, and Pinterest-worthy fun.After a while, you realized that you were beyond exhausted from the added demands of scheduling every single minute seven days a week.

Then the whining began with the dreaded, “I’m bored!” Here’s the beauty of the good enough parent: Your job is to offer a safe foundation for your child to explore their environment. In plain terms, that means THEY have to fi nd the fun activity (Within limits!). Once we help our kids learn that their free time is theirs to craft, they learn how to play independently. That might mean they discover a love of reading, gardening, swimming, painting, music, or astronomy. The opportunities are endless.

Grow closer by fostering independence
Parents strive to provide their kids with a safe, happy childhood. We often fall in the trap of creating only fun, successful times for them. When children are too afraid to fail, they struggle to find their place in the world. Being a good enough parent means that we create an environment where children are allowed to try things with the possibility of failure. By learning how to fail, we support children in building good sportsmanship, ethics, compassion, empathy, and most of all-motivation to keep trying. Let’s all strive for a good enough school year!

Marla Berger is a licensed mental health counselor, registered art and play therapist. Her practice, Berger Counseling Services, is located in Parkland.

Posted on

Parkland Life: October 2020

Coincidence or Godwink?

A couple of years ago, I read a book titled, “When God Winks at You” by Squire Rushnell, and the concept has remained with me.

Godwinks (Rushnell’s term) are coincidences that, when we think about them, make us pause, smile, or just say aha. An example we probably have all experienced is when you are thinking about someone and the phone rings, and it is that person.

Another example is when you lose something important and just as you are giving up on ever finding it – it turns up in a place you think you searched thoroughly before.

To me, Godwinks are messages the universe is sending me when I am open to receiving that information. Well, this morning I received a Godwink.

For the past few months, my columns have focused on my feelings and behaviors during the pandemic. I am still staying at home and still only dreaming of getting on a plane to see my family in New York.

I have tried to find positive things to do, but life feels a bit bland and sad. And then this morning I received a strong message, or as I would term it, a Godwink. The first message (Godwink) came as I watched the “CBS This Morning” show. One of the daily segments is when the anchors discover/find a story, news segment, or video and want to share it with all of us.

This morning, co-anchor Tony Dokoupil read about a recent poll centered on the Coronavirus’ effect on peoples’ feelings. He stated that according to the poll, two-thirds of Americans believe they are better people due to the pandemic and 70 percent said they learned a lot about themselves as a result of the pandemic. Hmmm.

The second message (Godwink) came to me in email form. I received a group text from a friend that I read just after the morning show ended. The gist of it is in this one stanza of the much longer message: “Let’s put some color in our grey…And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left.

“Let’s try to eliminate the afters…I’m doing it after…I’ll say it after…I’ll think about it after…So let’s leave nothing for later because still waiting we can lose the best moments.” Two positive and strong statements on making the most of our life during this time filled with frustration and waiting. A Godwink certainly meant for me.

I am in need of an attitude adjustment. I must again learn to appreciate and love the time as it is now. I have worked to make my days better, fuller and more fun. I have received the love of a wonderful puppy and been reawakened to the beauty of the world through his eyes but I have not gone the extra mile to welcome this time into my emotions. Instead, I have resented it,  gotten angry, and felt cheated. So I projected this dissatisfaction and have not been the optimistic and hopeful person I certainly can and have tried to be.

So I am now beginning to think about how to give myself an attitude adjustment. What are the positives that have come out of all these months? How can I take those positives and gain a new perspective on my life under COVID-19? I need to lose “The Afters.” My goal this coming month is to understand how this time has made me better and learn more about myself. My goal this month is to be happier, more giving and more positive. I’ll let you know if the Godwink worked its miracle.

By Jill Vogel

Proudly powered by WordPress