A Tale of Two Quarantines

A popular classic novel, “A Tale of Two Cities” starts out with the words,

It was the best of times,

it was the worst of time,

It was the age of wisdom,

It was the age of foolishness,

It was the epoch of belief,

It was the epoch of incredulity,

It was the season of darkness,

It was the spring of hope,

It was the winter of despair,

I was contemplating how so many people can be feeling so differently during this pandemic that we are facing. In last week’s article I shared how we can turn this into a blessing. However, today’s article will discuss the question of how and why people can see this time period so differently.

For myself, the first week or so I was nervous, scared and anxious; after that this has been one of the most peaceful and happy times I have experienced in quite a while. Now how is that possible?

Well first let’s look at what I was doing in that first week. I was endlessly scrolling on Facebook and Instagram. I was also constantly checking COVID-19 statistics sites on the internet. I think I was trying to find answers.

In the second week, while I still spent time on social media, I was not endlessly scrolling specifically for news related to the pandemic and I stopped checking the statistics of everything related to the pandemic.

It’s important to understand that whatever we are focusing on we get more of, if you choose to focus on all of the bad things in the world you are going to see them, and if you choose to focus on the good you are going to see that.

Think about this, remember when you were in high school and you sent a message to that person that you liked and you just kept thinking about it over and over until you began to freak out and say, “I can’t believe it’s been 5 WHOLE minutes and my crush hasn’t text me back, I bet they don’t even like me, that was such a stupid choice to text them, if they don’t test me back then I’m going to be an old maid with 15 cats– I’m going to be that cat lady and die alone.”

If you can imagine how we act like that over a text, imagine how much more we could react to a potentially life threatening pandemic. But what if we didn’t? What if instead of watching every single piece of news on the pandemic, you could just trust Heavenly Father and move forward in your life?

Everyone of us knows that one day we will die, nothing is promised to us, so what if you just lived in peace making wise decisions and living the life that we really want to today?

I believe when this quarantine is over, we will see people that handled it one of two ways.

While some people will come out of it with the attitude, wow I am so glad that is over!  That was the worst time period of my life, I was trapped in my house all day; and after I finished all of NETFLIX I was so bored. I got fat from eating all of my quarantine snacks at once and I was so mad at the person that I was quarantined with that we ended up getting a divorce and giving up all of our teenage kids for adoption.

And on the other hand I believe that there will be some people that come out of this having turned a rough situation into one of the best situations of their lives. They started being true to themselves and doing what they loved. They started playing an instrument, writing a book or even started a new business. They strengthened their relationship with Heavenly Father, they served others and they did the inner work that brings true joy. They even came closer to their family. They may even look back on this experience as a huge blessing.

None of us created this pandemic, I’m not saying that we take light of all of the children of GOD that have passed away because of this. But we can take this situation that we have been given and make the best out of it.

I know for myself, It really had been a time of peace and creation. OF COURSE I’ve mixed in watching movies, playing video games, and social media –somedays more than others, and that’s okay too. The area that I’ve decided I need to work on now is better physical fitness, I started weighing myself a week ago and when I weighed in, I weighed the most I’ve weighed in a long time –It’s not my fault Oreos are so delicious 🙂 And so today I am starting to get back in the habit of working out the best I can.

Walking or running is an excellent exercise because it doesn’t just relax the body, it relaxes the mind. Even every 50 minutes or so, If not on a long coaching call I will get up and walk around in my back yard. The days I don’t do this, I get much more frustrated than the days I do. Also you can use body weight exercises, pushups, situps, pull ups, you get elastic bands for strength training exercise — and you can even do it while watching your favorite tv show.

Just do the best you can, if it takes you 10 minutes to one pushup Excellent! Then the next day do 2 pushups, and just keep going. Success is a journey! Just do the best you can.

I just finished reading the book the 4 agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and want to finish this article by sharing them with you, I also recommend reading the book, it is VERY short.

1. Be Impeccable with your word
2. Don’t take anything personally
3. Don’t make assumptions
4. Always do your best

Do your best during this quarantine and it could be the biggest blessing of your life.

Just Start now, because it’s always better late than never! When you start, the make the impossible possible!

-The “It’s Possible” Guy

Joseph

Remember You’re okay, start doing what’s possible in Your life and you will create miracles!

P.S. If this article has blessed your life, please share it! It may be just what someone else needs to hear, and they will thank you for it!