Coronavirus is still all anyone is talking about these days, and because of it, I'm still working remotely.
Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy working remotely. I used to work remotely one day a week, but working full-time from home since March 16 has forced me to really shift the way I work. But at the same time, the monotony of my day in and day out is starting to take a toll on my mental state.
One word: Overwhelmed.
I have this constant flutter of anxiety in the center of my chest that sometimes makes it way up to my throat. A constant reminder that things are not secure right now and the projection is only getting worse.
When my Dad was sick in 2016, he would have these agitated moments that resulted in us bickering for a few minutes. Or me listening to him rant and yell at me, while I sat there and absorbed.
I had to constantly remind myself that the anger he was exuding was not towards me. It was an emotion he was experiencing towards something he couldn't control - his cancer.
The same thing is happening now, as we navigate a "new normal." A life of living and working in the same space day in and day out. A life of seeing the same people every day, with no variety. A life of restrictions and limitations on the freedom we used to have.
Being annoyed at the current situation is easy. It's frustrating to not be able to do what we want. I'm so looking forward to ordering a fancy cocktail and freshly fried calamari at a restaurant when this whole thing is over. And likely standing in the entryway with three other groups of people to wait for a table.
As we work through these trying times its important to remember - we're all in this together. We're all facing the same storm, some with different resources than others but all in the same situation.
The only thing you can control is how you react when the steam seems to be pushing the lid off. Will you let the lid go flying, spilling all over your stove and leaving a mess to clean up? Or are you going to slam your hands on the lid and turn the temperature down a bit, saving yourself more aggravation and time?
It's not easy to do, but I'm trying to focus more on slamming down the lid.
