How has Covid Affected You?
All over the world we were affected by Covid in one way or the other. Some got sick, some got really sick. Others lost their jobs or worse their homes. Some died.
Even if you are fortunate enough not to have had any dire consequences from Covid, you were bound to be affected one way or the other. How has it affected you?
Sometimes if the effects aren’t that great, we gloss over them or forget about them or maybe not even realize how it’s affected us. While the quarantines are now a distant memory, you could still be affected by the isolation or fear.
When things were closed down there was no going out. Even after things started opening back up in Texas (like restaurants and stores), many meetings, conventions, networking groups, events weren’t happening. Some still aren’t. It has limited our ability to socialize in public. Socializing with your friends, however, can still happen, if you both are comfortable. Some people found they were ok with getting together, but their friends weren’t, or vice versa. Whatever the case may be, socializing has been limited these past two years. Even people who don’t consider themselves extroverts were affected by this. Extroverts were definitely suffering. I know first-hand from a few extroverted friends who couldn’t wait to get out again! And did the minute they could.
As a result of being shut in, then lack of things to attend, many people fell into depression, especially if they lived alone. While that is hard, thank goodness we have the forms of communication that we do. Not just the basics of phone, text and email, but also social media. To simulate in-person thankfully again we have zoom, skype and facetime.
Facetime has been a God Send!
None of my family lives close to me (as in all out of state) so I definitely had to rely on facetime. What a God send! It’s been so wonderful to be able to “see” my elderly mother on a regular basis via facetime. I can’t give her a hug, but other than that, it feels like she’s in the room with me. During the holidays I would often take my phone and give her a tour of my decorations. She enjoyed that.
In March I was very grateful to have gone home to see my mom for the first time in two years! What a wonderful reunion that was! We both had tears in our eyes as we hugged for what seemed like ages. It was wonderful to see her in person and catch up in a way that you can’t over the phone.
If you’re suffering from isolation or lack of a social life, what are you doing about it? I encourage you if you haven’t already to pick up the phone and call someone. Call a friend or family member you haven’t spoken to for a while. Or text or email them. Get some interaction going. I have to admit, I’ve fallen into a habit of not seeing people, so I often forget to reach out beyond my close inner circle. It’s important that we all reach out because one of your friends that you haven’t spoken to in a while may be suffering. Your phone call could be the thing she needs to get out of her funk. Or someone may call you when you so desperately need to hear a friendly voice, not just your boss over skype.
If you’re comfortable with social media, use it to get some interaction going. You don’t even have to participate, just read the posts. Reading other people’s words can help us feel connected.
Online Courses Keep You Connected
One good thing that has come out of covid is people and companies have become much more innovative in how to do things. Many events or workshops went online. To facilitate the group interaction, private online groups were created. I participated in several of these and it really helped me to feel the bond with others. If you’re struggling, I would encourage you to do so also. Find a topic that you’re interested in, then see if there’s an online course about it. These days there are courses for everything so I’ll bet you can find one.
As a side note, if you’re interested in developing your intuition, during the quarantines I wrote a course on this topic. You can find out more about it HERE. I’m considering adding a private Facebook group for those who take the course so we can discuss questions. Boom. More interaction.
The psychic fairs have all been back in business for a while so if you’re looking to get out or want to get an in-person reading, I encourage you to check those out as well. Meet-up groups are coming back in person lately too. If you’re looking to find some like-minded people, you might check out meet-up.com. There are groups on almost every topic imaginable!
Not only do we feel lonely when we’re alone, we can feel lonely when we don’t have like-minded friends. During covid some people found out they don’t actually think the same way as some of their friends do. That can be devastating and further isolating. Solution? Check out meet-up, online courses, get on social media, attend events. The world may have changed, but there’s still a lot of great people out there waiting to be your friend!
A Smile isn’t just a Smile
Whatever you have to offer, someone else needs it. Whether it’s a friendly smile or crashing in your spare bedroom, look around to see what you can give. I’ve found continuing to be kind and compassionate always helps. Often, I’ll strike up a conversation with someone in the grocery store line or with the cashier. Not only does it relieve my boredom, it may give someone else that desperately needed people contact that they didn’t even know they needed! While many people in line are on their phones, many aren’t. It makes me feel good to know I’ve brightened someone’s day with a smile and a few kind words.
Together we can get through these crazy times. The best way to do it is to keep up your social life even if it’s remotely. Keep encouraging and helping strangers when you can. Offer a smile even when you don’t feel like it because smiles go a long way! And who knows, you may even end up with a new friend!
P.S. I offer my condolences to anyone who lost a loved one from covid. My heart goes out to you. in the past two and a half years I’ve lost seven people so I can understand. For someone who’s never lost anyone significant, it’s been a huge loss. For a while, virtual funerals seemed to be my week-end activity. Thankfully none of them were lost due to covid, but a loss is still a loss.
If you want to develop your intuition but you don’t know where to start, check this out.
If you want to learn how to listen to it, how to talk to it and how to trust it by CLICKING
HERE.
Once you start listening to your intuition, you’ll be amazed how much your life clicks into place. Then you can truly start enjoying yourself. CLICK HERE to find out more!
