A New Normal: Change Of Attitude

I had a bit of an epiphany this morning, as I got out of bed and wondered if it was going to be a good day, or a bad day. Prior to this global pandemic, I awoke pretty much every day with a sense of excitement because there was so much in my life to look forward to. We had plans, we had activities, we had family and friends, we had wide open outdoor spaces to explore and enjoy.

With all of that either drastically limited or completely off the table for the foreseeable future, I've been struggling, really struggling, to retain a sense of contentment as I move through my day. I don't want to fall into a trap of just slogging through each day, waiting for an end to this situation that may or may not arrive quickly.

This morning's epiphany occurred when I realized that I need to stop thinking of this as a temporary state of being, and instead think of it, and approach, it as our new normal.

So beginning today I'm going to beginning planning out my day with an eye toward covering the following areas to the best of my ability, in the hope that life will begin to once again feel joyful even in the midst of this pandemic. I can't change the outcome of our current situation, but I can change my attitude as we are going through it.

My Eight Daily Categories

1. Body (health and fitness)
2. Mind and Emotions (psychology and beliefs)
3. Relationships (spousal/significant other)
4. Family
5. Community
6. Social/Fun
7. Money/Finances
8. Spirituality

And here is my plan for each of them today:

1. Body (health and fitness)  Go on an exploratory hike with my husband, leaving from the house on foot, currently denoted as 'OK' per California's COVID-19 Shelter At Home guidelines.
2. Mind and Emotions (psychology and beliefs)  Re-read Chapter One of A New Earth by Eckhard Tolle.
3. Relationships (spousal/significant other)  Phone ahead and order a pickup lunch from one of our local eateries at the end of our hike, then find somewhere quiet and scenic to relax and enjoy eating it together.
4. Family  Look for an interesting photo op during our hike, and text it to my oldest granddaughter. I'm thinking of something along the lines of 'What is this?', where I'll take two photos, one a super close up that she'll have to think about, and one of the object itself from afar, the 'answer' in other words. We sent her a digital camera last week at my younger daughter's suggestion and she is enjoying the heck out of it, hence my idea above.
5. Intellect/Learning  Read 1% of our next quarterly Book Club book, Angle of Repose by William Stegner. (This is not a 'fun' book, it's a meaty, Pulitizer Prize winning novel, hence why I'm slotting it here and not below.)
6. Social/Fun  Two Zoom video dates (with wine!), one with an east coast friend, and one with our long time best friends here on the west coast.
7. Money/Finances  Revise our 2020 Budget to reflect the reduction in Travel, Restaurants, Entertainment, and Gas that the fallout of COVID-19 will most certainly have on our spending choices for the remainder of the year. While the stock market plunge has been significant, it has not yet affected the portion of our portfolio that we budget off of, however common sense would dictate that we move to a more modest budgeting stance until things stabalize.
8. Spirituality  Meditate one time today, plus review the daily readings from my two spiritual books of choice.