We all went through it. It is something unprecedented, something literally everyone in the world experienced. I remember seeing the canals of Venice so clear you could see the bottom; pictures of families having church in their living rooms; missionaries from around the world were brought home by the plane full; families put stuffed animals in the windows so the children of the neighborhood could walk around and find them (we put a tiger in our window); children attending school via an iPad; and empty parks and playgrounds. Neal McCoy did a virtual concert, Neil Diamond sang a song in his home, Andrew Lloyd Webber did a mini-concert from his home, Brad Paisley did mini-concerts from his music room and Broadway actors did vignettes from plays via Zoom with other members of the cast. In my circle, I taught a Tuesday night gospel class via Zoom, and our church had a conference via Zoom with the speakers in their homes.
I bring this all back to our memories because we all changed. We got used to going no where. We got used to not attending church. We got used to not socializing. And, then the world opened up. It was still months before we went out with friends. Many didn’t return to church. Many didn’t go out with friends.
It doesn’t take long before we have created a new habit. A habit of not doing much of anything. A form of depression, perhaps. Bad habits like watching too much television, wasting time, and rarely socializing like you once did are leftovers from being confined to one’s home.
Perhaps its time to set a new goal to get out of the bad habits. Return to pre-pandemic habits. Choose one thing for which you need to return, focus on that one thing. Find an accountability buddy and work together. Let’s get ourselves back to a happier time within ourselves! What is the one thing you know you need to start doing again? Write it down, and make the first step. Like all other first steps, you may stumble, but just start over again. As for me, I’m going to have some friends over for game night!
Carolyn Bendall 