Stop planning ahead!
Lately, I have seen many people posting on the social media about plans ruined, vacations cancelled, kids acting up, quarantining is hard, no where to go, and everything in between. While all of these problems exist, we are all in the same boat, and the downfall of all this negativity is that it truly eliminates anything that we may have to look forward to..and anxiety and depression set in for a lot of us.
I for one, are one of those people that hold on to a glimmer that gets me through each day. I hold on to that by not planning ahead. In uncertain times, how can you even remotely predict what is going to happen a week from now? A month from now? Or whether that vacation you have planned in the fall will even take place? The answer is you can’t.
I’m not telling you not to plan certain things, because in uncertain times it’s all that brings about a sense of normalcy. Here is what my household will plan:
Meals for a week. Otherwise the desire for unhealthy and quick will prevail.
Time to exercise and get outdoors.
Lesson plans for kids
Dedicated alone time for work or anything else.
Time spent talking to others over the dumb zoom app, because apparently cheering your phone is what it’s come down to.
Everything else I look at hourly with something to look forward to. When I wake up, I look forward to coffee and the morning meeting with my kids..Once I get through noon, it’s lunch. Once it becomes one, I can take a bubble bath and show prep. Once it becomes two, I can talk to Cleveland from my basement, and so on and so forth. Small victories instead of what’s missing or what I can’t do.
And yes, every hour doesn’t hold a reward, but the next hour might. And sometimes that reward is simply having a second to be grateful for people like my sister in law who risks her life to help others at the Cleveland Clinic, and all the brave men and women that put themselves in harms way so that we can continue life in some sort of way. Grocery store workers, food and restaurant delivery people and more . Gratitude can and should be the glimmer you need. Gratitude is all the planning you truly need.
So, stop planning. Stop pretending you know what the future holds and Debbie Downering the social fronts. Fill it up with pictures of where you wanna go when we can all be together again. New banana recipes you’ve tried, activities you did with the kids that bought you an hour, motivational quotes, thank you's to our healthcare workers, and the dance vids. Keep those coming.
Me? Well, it’s almost time to wash up and I got a new body wash to try. Small wins, but I truly think Tingly mint and tea tree will make me the best smelling dude on the..couch.
All my best in life and the relationships in it xoxoxo Glenn