Looking Ahead… What COVID Has Taught Me

 

Hey there friends… it’s been a bit hasn’t it?!?!?! Last week, we took some time off for a bit of rest and relaxation at the lake and goodness did it do the body good!!! But I am back and ready to hit the ground running with all new posts this week…especially this one about what COVID-19 has taught me so far.

I saw my fellow friend + fashion blogger friend Tanya Foster talk about this subject last week and it totally got me thinking about quarantine and COVID and what I’ve realized after more than two months of what seems like solitary confinement. Lots of self reflection have gone into this post and I’m getting real and vulnerable with myself and each of you out there too… which can sometimes be hard to articulate so bear with me when I try to type all of this into the truth of what these past few months has helped me realize:

mint eyelet top | destructed white jeans | yvett sneakers | pink loulou bag

What COVID-19 Has Taught Me

ONE. i am stronger than i thought.

I always try to see the glass half full and have been that optimist for my entire life, but even after this crazy time in 2020, I realize I am stronger than I gave myself credit for. I come out of this situation with clarity, a sense of purpose, and feeling more equipped and know that I can tackle whatever gets thrown my way. Sure it may not be pretty ALL of the time, but I can help others get dressed on the daily, bring some happy to my girls and I fully believe that what’s to come is better than what we leave behind. My daily affirmations and quotes always help set my day up for success, too. My wish is that you’ve been able to relate in some way and I hope my social media channels have been a warm welcome for some cheer in an otherwise scary, uncertain and overwhelming season of life.

long sleeve tee | align joggers | new balance sneaks 

TWO. my anxiety is real

I’ve chatted a lot about my general anxiety disorder in previous posts [see here for the most recent], but it’s been truly eye-opening to see the progression of my anxiety over the past few months when I don’t properly manage it. Honestly, there were some days where I found myself feeling claustrophobic, like the walls were closing in and it was scary. That’s when I took the initiative to get on tele-health calls with my primary care physician, learning how to cope with my anxious tendencies and how to create more balance and less stress in my life. Self care helps a lot in that regard, including 5-minute daily meditations in the morning, reading affirmations on the regular, turning off the TV and phone at night in exchange for a good book, and of course my daily FWTFL workouts for the win = getting those endorphins going sets my day up for success and definitely gives me purpose. If you struggle is anxiety, don’t ever be afraid to ask for help or guidance, it’s the best thing I ever did not only for myself, but for my role as a wife and mom as well.

THREE. i didn’t miss my calling as a teacher

This is one that came through loud and clear, even as early as week three of our at-home schooling sessions. Try as I might, I’m just not adequately equipped to juggle being a working mom, teacher, short order cook and everything else the girls are accustomed to with their 1st and 2nd grade schedules. We started out strong, kept to the daily schedule as much as humanly possible, but goodness gracious it was TOUGH on all of us. There were lots of fights and timeouts during the last eight weeks of school days, but we did our best and so we will call that a win. The girls’ teachers kept telling me as long as we read each day and worked on math and a few extra activities for good measure, they would be OK so I gave myself much grace on that end and will be showering our school teachers + staff with amazing gifts as a way to say thank you for their continued patience and help and for being true angels on earth. I don’t see how you teachers manage these little people day in and day out and thanks will NEVER be enough! Now I’ll just pray our schools go back in the fall = thinking positive people!

fast asleep PJ set | perfect night PJ set

FOUR. stop and enjoy the little things in life

It’s incredible the things that we were able to accomplish over the past few months with a ton of extra time at home: Carson finally took those training wheels off of her bicycle and is riding in style like her big sister-way to go Dad!!! We’ve also been having a ton of game nights around the kitchen table, spending lazy afternoons lounging on the couch and taking in some of our most beloved movies, cooking and baking nonstop and heading to our happy place [AKA the lake house] as mush as possible for a much slower pace of life. Had COVID not occurred, much of this time spent together wouldn’t have happened and our little foursome has definitely had plenty of QT = good for the soul and a reminder of the good stuff life is made of. I’ve learned to cherish the time with my babies all the more and definitely got a lot more sleep than normal, too. My girls are now 8 and 6 and their childhood is flying by way faster than I care to admit so I’ve certainly cherished having them with me day in and day out.

FIVE. we missed our friends and family so much

I think this has been one of the hardest aspects of dealing with this scary time in our lives… goodness our family LOVES to entertain and be social with friends and family and not seeing our loved ones for weeks was truly gutwrenching. The girls desperately missed seeing their friends and having playdates and not getting to attend birthday parties-I know many of you out there had to cancel trips and huge milestone celebrations and it breaks my heart of how things have had to change to incorporate social distancing and my biggest hope is that we can get back to those in-person events and life experiences ASAP.

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What did you find most relatable in this post about what COVID-19 has taught me?  Are there any lessons you learned over the past few months?? Things you didn’t think would bother you that did… things you thought you’d miss but didn’t?!?!   If so, let me know in a comment below!  We are all in this together and I think we’ve all learned a lot about ourselves and our abilities so JOB WELL DONE friends!! OXOX