Tag: virus

DAY 2 OF OUR FUN JULY CHALLENGE

Day 2 of our challenge! I hope you made it through day 1 without posting anything negative and remembering to share at least one thing positive online. With most of us still quarantined at home, life exists to a greater degree online. Therefore, the positive changes we are making can have an even greater impact.

I have a great deal of positive to share today. I am going to start with this morning. For the last few years I have had a lingering calf issue. I enjoy jogging despite not being built for such endeavors. After a week or two of jogging I would always get a terrible pain in my calf that would last roughly 2 weeks. This on again, off again training did not allow me to get into much of a rhythm. The last time this injury happened I was alone on a local hiking trail here and over a mile from my car. A long painful limp back, plus the fact that it turned black and blue, prompted me to say, “enough is enough!” I went to the doctor only to discover I had a strain and slight tear in my Achilles tendon. Without physical therapy I risked surgery and weeks of being off my feet all together.

All of this may not sound positive to you, but to me it was. Not only did I finally learn what the problem was, I had a plan to correct it. I found myself at the sports medicine center and in the capable hands of Griffin. After several questions and a complete exam, he developed a plan for my recovery. He informed me that in about 4 to 6 weeks I should really be seeing improvement. I was given several exercises to do at home and soon should be running, jumping and playing with the other kids!

The next bit of great news is that I finally have my ‘office’ back. That was a line I borrowed from my good friend Scott. Since March, the coffee shops here have been closed to inside seating. Recently, they just opened up with social distancing practices in place. Although writing at home with a beautiful lady can be fun, it can also be quite distracting. I always want to give her my attention when I am in her presence. When I am by myself in a coffee shop I tend to disappear in my own little writing world. Sometimes this can be quite amusing as I look up and all of the people around me have changed and I was completely unaware. This is not where the good news ends!

Another great thing about today’s visit is the thoughtful nature of my beautiful lady. When she heard that Starbucks was opening she wanted to buy me my first coffee. She presented me with a gift card at lunch the other day. As I am writing this, I can’t help but think of her thoughtfulness. Not to mention she is on my screen saver. Filled with love, writing just seems to flow.

That is 3 pieces of positive news! I have already found myself looking for things to share that are positive. I hope you are having luck finding your positive news. Feel free to share your positive stories in the comments below, but don’t forget to share them online as well!

DAY 1 OF THE 7 DAY JULY CHALLENGE!

Our first day! 7 days, all positivity, no negativity!! Giving our souls a little vacation. If you are just joining us, for the first 7 days of my birth month we are going to 1.) Cease from posting anything negative and 2) post one thing positive each day. By the end of the week we should have raised our vibration and begun to not only change ourselves but the world around us.

Here is mine. It is my sincere desire these 7 days begin to change the narrative. The more we change the focus to that of love and gratitude, we will inspire others to do the same. In turn, perhaps they may go on to share a smile or kind word to another. Thus, creating a ripple effect of kindness.

Can you ‘catch’ love from another person? I think you know the answer to that is yes. How do you feel when someone pays you a genuine compliment? Let’s you know how proud they are of you, or best of all, says they love you. You chest swells a little and joy seems to radiate from within.

The great thing about love, the more we share, the more we create! Putting more love into the world not only creates a more loving world, but a more loving you! Thunk of how you feel when you tell someone how wonderful they are, how proud you are of them or how much you love them? You feel better inside!

That is my positive thought today let us start a pandemic of love and let us share it wherever we can!

DAY 3 WITH CORONAVIRUS AND A NEW SYMPTOM!

Welcome to day 3 of my not so fun journey with the coronavirus. Today a new symptom seemed to take center stage. That was feeling dizzy. I recall last Sunday having moments of this feeling. Once having to hang on at the dinner table and another thinking I forgot to put the car in park only to discover it was not the car that was moving but my own equilibrium. Those moments were fleeting and passing. The shortness of breath is what made me go to the doctor and had me so nervous.

Then enter today. From mid-afternoon on I was very dizzy. It began when I bent over to pick up a cookbook that had fallen in our pantry. I stood up and felt like I had just left a tilt-a-whirl ride. It passed in about 30 seconds. The rest of the day I have been walking around like Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. The sad thing is I have not even had any rum. For a moment I did contemplate drinking some and seeing if the two would balance each other out, but then thought that might not be the best thing for my healing. I have also heard from a few sources that they are saying not to take elderberry, which I had been doing. I stopped adding that to my list of things I am trying.

You may think the hardest thing is dealing with fact I feel like I cannot breath 80% of the time, or even walking around like a drunken pirate without having the pleasure of drinking rum. Both of those are most unfortunate. The real struggle, however, is far worse. It is having to be in the house with my lovely lady and not being able to wrap my arms around her and shower her with kisses. I can tell that she, who is pretty much symptom free as far as the virus goes, is also hurting. Watching someone you love so much be so close yet so far away is the worse frustration ever. Last night as I watched her sleep all I wanted to do was walk over and place a kiss in the middle of her forehead. Still, because I want her to remain as healthy as she can be I stayed roughly 6 feet away.

I always like to end things on a positive note. While Margie was sleeping I did manage to finish the book I was reading. How to live to be 100…or More by George Burns. In it, along with some great comic material, was some wonderful real world advice that I would like to share with you. There is a chapter he discusses limiting worry, stress and tension. With all that we are dealing with these days that can be hard to do. All of us want to stay well-informed, but by doing so many of become inundated. News of this virus, the death toll numbers, quarentine information is everywhere. It is on the nightly news, shows up on our social media and even alerts on our phones. Add to that all of the rumors and misinformation being spread to cause worry and panic and things can become overwhelming. This stress, tension and worry can lower our immune system and make us sick. How do we overcome this? I am going to give you a quote from George Burns himself – “You may not be able to change the world, but you can change the channel.”

Trust me, I get it. As someone who has this virus I like to be informed of all the latest information. We have to be careful to take some time away. Let us use this time that we have at home to read more, meditate more, catch up on some rest. Tomorrow Margie and I have a mini movie matinee planned. This will be with some amazing homemade nachos. We will check in on what is going on, but we will also take some time out to focus on joy. Something we could all benefit from doing. I would encourage everyone to plan at least one activity that will bring them some joy and self-care. I would love it if you could share it in the comments below.