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| Positivity for challenging times |
2020 has been a bit of a bitch so far right? Although I will qualify that by saying I think that very much depends on your perspective and where you are personally right now. There’s no doubt that the coronavirus outbreak is causing a lot of problems for many people. I feel incredibly lucky that I’m healthy and not in an industry that (so far) has been significantly impacted by the outbreak.
Given that I already live alone and work from home for the majority of the week, I’ve not had to change my routine up too much. I know that’s not the case for a lot of others though, and there are plenty more still going out to work every day because they have to (and we’re so grateful to the NHS staff and other key workers - thank you!)
But the rapid pace at which things have developed in the last few weeks got me thinking, and then Stace told me I should write a post about all of this, so here goes.
There are two phrases that I’ve grown up with that I think are especially applicable at the moment:
“Life is what happens when you’re planning something else” (thanks Mum)
“Worse things happen at sea” (thanks Dad)
“Life is what happens when you’re planning something else”
Hell yes it is. 2020 is a classic example of that. Pretty sure none of us planned to be on lockdown, in our homes, sitting on piles of toilet roll with a cupboard full of tinned tomatoes, peanut butter and eggs (based on what’s not available at my local store?!) at this point of the year.
But that’s where we are (hopefully most of us minus the ridiculous stockpile). At times like these, I think it’s important to remember that life goes on. It throws you curveballs and you have to find a way to knock them back, or duck pretty quickly.
When I was younger, I used to have a ‘plan’ (in the loosest sense) for my life. You know the one: go to university; get a degree; start a career; fall in love; get married; have a family etc etc etc.
Aside from getting my degree, pretty much none of that has worked out how I thought it would when I was in my early 20s. And I’ve realised that’s a great thing. I’ll spare you all the details, but when I turned 30 my life got turned upside down.
The direction I thought I was going in took a dramatic and sharp swerve and turned a corner I didn’t see coming. I’ve never looked back. I found myself moving countries, changing jobs and buying my first home within six months (the latter two happened within a week of each other). That was when I stopped planning too far into the future.
Life has a way of leading you in a direction and it’s best to have some flexibility to follow it. Sure I make plans, but I no longer have a ‘grand design’ for my life and, you know what, I’m so much happier for that.
Being flexible leads to opportunities. Where other people see obstacles I tend to see a fun climbing frame. Since becoming a freelancer, I’ve engineered my life to make it more flexible and I try to embrace that flexibility as much as possible. I know I’m lucky to have that option.
My point with all these ramblings is that I’m much happier because I can be flexible and I’m happy to be flexible. This works on a small scale too, not just when we’re faced with a global pandemic. For example, I generally have the flexibility to shuffle work around to meet changing client deadlines.
Or I can choose to work late one night to give myself an afternoon off the next day for an extra-long dog walk or coffee with friends (when we’re no longer self isolating).
In the greater scheme of things, I feel being flexible allows me to find and take different work opportunities. It’s given me the chance to do some amazing travelling the past 12 months too. It’s helped me cope with plans changing, sometimes quite quickly. I stress less and feel more comfortable. What’s not to love?
“Worse things happen at sea”
This phrase is a running joke in my family because my dad uses it all the time. Really. Smashed a glass? ‘Worse things happen at sea’. Pranged your car? ‘Worse things happen at sea’. Burnt your dinner? ‘Worse things happen at sea’.
While we all laugh about it, the sentiment is actually pretty true - situations certainly escalate to become more life threatening more quickly when you’re on the ocean. But to me, this phrase has always helped me focus on the positive in any situation.
With everything that’s happening at the moment, it’s really easy to focus on the negative. I think we can all agree, collectively, that the current situation sucks. But I am so grateful for what I have and where I am during this period.
I’m grateful that I have my own space that’s warm, safe and secure where I can ride out this storm, and I’m so happy to live within walking distance of the beach so that mine and Franklin’s daily exercise still contains a dose of Vitamin Sea.
I’m excited to be able to spend more time cooking and experimenting with some of the many recipes in the collection of cookbooks I’ve acquired.
I’m really thankful that I still have work and am able to do my work from home. I know that’s not the case for a lot of people right now and I really am aware of how lucky I am in this situation.
Try putting a positive spin on things and they’ll feel better and more manageable. Even if you can’t see how spilling a glass of wine on the carpet could be positive, be grateful if that’s the worst thing you have to worry about right now.
Sometimes when the whole world is going crazy, it does indeed pay to remind yourself that worse things happen at sea.
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| There's always hope |
