Okay, everything sucks right about now. When is it going to stop sucking? I don’t know, no one does.
Lockdown; Crisis or Opportunity?
I wrote recently that the Kung Flu lockdown put me in a bad place for a bit. Adjusting to working from home, while taking care of the boys, the world seemingly circling the drain, knocked me for a loop.
Crisis
I stopped reading and researching.
I stopped writing.
I stopped posting.
Then I gave my goddamned head a shake and realized I was spending too much time worrying about things I cannot control (you know, like the coronavirus), rather than concentrating on the things I can control. I was focusing on the problems of others while borrowing trouble. When it finally dawned on me how bad this was, I cleared my head and focused on my blessings instead.
- I have a job, in a critical industry, where I can work remotely for the duration.
- Everyone in my family; kids, wife, siblings, parents, in-laws, is healthy
Opportunity
For 30 years I’ve held the belief that in any crisis, there is an opportunity. Coronavirus Lung Pao Sicken made me forget that, but in time I remembered to stop looking at this as a crisis as a problem, but rather an opportunity. I’m confined to quarters, but taking care of my boys and working from home doesn’t consume my every waking hour, so I have time.
In addition to time, I have access to this amazing source of information we call the internet. From the desk in my study I have the ability to reach out to literally billions of people. With time and that reach I have an opportunity to grow my skill stack…to learn something new and useful.
And that is exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to study hard in two areas that will greatly help my ambition to turn this little blog into something more than, “Andrew records his thoughts for posterity.” What’s more, I’m going to try some new things with it. Spice it up a little, as it were.
What’s going to happen? I don’t know. But I do know that I have skills and knowledge I can use to come through this crisis better and stronger. What’s more, I can share those skills, that knowledge with the world, so maybe I can help a few others to come through stronger.
I began a couple of days ago by giving you a dead simple breathing exercise to help control stress. I’m doing it myself every day, multiple times a day. You should too.
But it’s not all I have to offer, and in the coming days and weeks I’m going to organize my thoughts into real, actionable steps that I can take, and you can take. Daily. To come out the other side better, stronger, healthier, and maybe even happier.
Hold fast. There’s much more to come.
