My pandemic life of distraction

Another week of living in a pandemic and focusing on the good in life. I’m sure you’ll agree there’s a lot going on in our world these days. I don’t even like to watch or read the news. Talk about creating anxiety. The tweets, news, and social media post for months on end is enough to give someone with the strongest of convictions pause.

So like many people, I find other things to fill my time that aren’t creating anxiety. We all know Netflix and chill is one of the best ways to waste an evening. Podcast are another way that I’ve found to occupy my time. Plus I think they can be educational. Some of them at least.

Great Podcast

I started listening to Michelle Obama’s podcast and that’s been very entertaining and interesting. Hearing how she grew up and the events in her life that have made her who she is today is really impressive. She knows she’s a role model for lots of people young and old out there in our country. Talk about stress!

In a recent podcast she talks about being a mentor to 3 young ladies that started working for her while was at the White House. I think one of the things I took away is that we all have a responsibility to mentor people around us. I’ve brought this conversation up with my partner at different times when it comes to the music industry.

I’m always curious if someone is showing/teaching others the ropes. Helping people advance and develop more skills. I’ve found that to be a challenge at times. However I find that I’ve run into people who feel like if they share their knowledge they’ll loose their footing or standing. I’m always surprised at how many people are driven by fear rather than hope.

Netflix and Chill

Earlier I brought up Netflix and chill and well the show I’ve been binge-watching is Evil. This CBS show is good in my humble opinion. I don’t feel like you can speculate where the show is going. I just finished watching the 1st season last night and can I just say “I didn’t see that coming!”

Money is for security

Another podcast that I enjoy is Suze Orman’s Women & Money, and the men smart enough to listen. She’s so grounded in money should make you feel secure. We all have heard that money can’t make you happy but of course a little extra wouldn’t hurt, right?

Our emotions drive so much of how we handle money. That’s what I think I learn most from her podcast. You can make your money work for you. I think we have all heard that. However if you have anxiety because of your money then put it somewhere safe where you won’t loose it. There’s nothing wrong with that which I think is contradictory to what we’re taught by many different sources.

Today in one of the Women & Money podcasts Suze spoke of 25 million unemployed people in the US. That makes me a little sad and I also need to be grateful that I’m not one of those people. Gratitude is something Suze speaks about too. Be happy in your truth is what she speaks about. That makes complete sense to me because if you’re living lies then that’s just going to create all kinds of stress in your life.

Who needs more stress in their life? I certainly don’t and I’m sure you don’t either. Living your truth sounds like a great idea to me. If there’s no more stress and it creates simplicity then I’m all for it.

Wrap up

In this pandemic world we live in we need to find ways to entertain ourselves and be grateful for what we have. That’s not always easy and I get it. I really do but if you can’t find happiness, you’ll find yourself spinning out of control. I only leave our apartment to go for daily walks in our neighborhood and run errands to the grocery store weekly.

Personally, I find it refreshing to go for drives out in the Oregon countryside. I’m fortunate that here in Oregon we can reach so many different kinds of scenery. I’m about an hour from the ocean. I’m about an hour from the mountains. I’m about an hour from National and State Forest. I’m about 2 hours from a completely different environment that I don’t know how to explain in Eastern Oregon. If I wanted to push it I’m about 5 hours from Giant Sequoia (Redwoods). To my earlier point, I’m grateful to be able to see all these amazing wonders.

Find what you’re grateful for and focus on that. If it’s being able to made jam and jelly then that’s great! If it’s that you can walk around the block, amazing! Just find something to be happy and grateful for in your life. and Keep that in the front of your thoughts. Life could always be worse and if you need proof of that just watch the news. People are dying (210,000 and counting in COVID deaths) and there’s so many natural disasters destroying parts of our country. So find your happiness and be grateful.