What to Do With Forced Rest?

All of us are dealing with the ramifications of the COVID-19 virus. For many of us, this includes social distancing and not doing the things we love to do (e.g., hanging out in groups, going to sporting events or concerts, going to work/school, etc.).

Bored and Restless

I love being with people, so sure enough, after a couple of days of staying at home, I was feeling bored and restless. Maybe it’s just me, but I have a hard time staying put. Even when I’m on vacation, I don’t like to sit around. I like to go on hikes, and explore the new place I’m in.

Forced Rest

But this situation is different. For the health and safety of everyone, we need to stay put. We’re all on “forced rest.” I can complain about it, but it won’t really do any good.

Benefits?

Today, I tried to do my best to think about some of the benefits of the “forced rest” in my life. At first, I had a bad attitude about it. “There aren’t any benefits of forced rest, this sucks.” But I stuck with it, and came up with a few:

For example, the forced rest will give me time to relax (I’m usually always on the go). It will give me the opportunity to get going on some writing projects that have been stuck on the back burner because of my busyness. I’ll be able to explore and learn how to do online instruction for my class. I’ll have the opportunity to cross-train and exercise in a different way. I’ll get to spend more time with Jenn. We’ll save money since we won’t be eating out as much or spending as much on outings.

Outside Our Control

Now, I’m not kidding myself. Do I wish the COVID-19 virus wasn’t a thing and I could resume all my normal activities tomorrow? Sure. But that isn’t my reality right now. Sometimes things happen in our lives that are outside our control. When this happens, we can complain and mope around, but it doesn’t usually do us any good. It’s better to accept the situation and see what it might have for us.