When life hits you upside the head!

Debie Monax - Author * Speaker
Professional photos outside back before Quarantine became a Thing
Debie Monax – Author * Speaker

Professional photos outside back before Quarantine became a Thing

Where were you when you first heard about Coronavirus?

I heard about it on the radio and I just thought it was some strange thing that was happening in China which seemed so far away.

Then, they sent my child home from school the week before spring break with some strange emails about kids getting educated online temporarily. When my 16 year old adjusted from being in a live classroom to logging into google classroom, she and her friends became diligent about schoolwork in an entirely new way. I was impressed with her fortitude, grace and diligence.

Then gradually, my activities began getting cancelled., even those at church. As I deleted events on my calendar and had my whole family home with me, I read more articles and watched a tiny bit of television about the governor of Colorado’s shutdown orders.

I like many people, thought it was an overreaction and it seemed strange to me.

Then I logged into tastytrade.com which has some interesting investing shows that I like to listen to and I think I was listening live with the show on when the US Stock Market lost value and volatility spiked to 80% in one day. I don’t know if it was hearing the shows live comments or if it was checking my investing portfolio I got out of my denial for good.

This was real and it had my attention. I’m sure each of you have a similar story of your own. And now, on April 16th, most people are feeling boredom and the repetition of day after day being the same as the last. Do you forget what day of the week it is? It happens to me all the time. Thankfully, I can look at my calendar.

This time is challenging all of us to define what is important and what we are going to focus on.

Here are some thoughts:

  • Health – I spend my time planning meals for my family and I to eat, my husband leaves the house and manages the grocery shopping.
  • Exercise – This is harder than normal, because I never leave the house. I walk my dog in the neighborhood with my mask. Being outside is keeping me sane. Ideas for things I haven’t done yet are, 1)Yoga by Adrien or 2) Pulling out my old P90X dvd’s and weights.
  • Personal development – I enjoy participating in zoom meetings with other people, learning new things and networking.
  • Writing – I’m doing a lot of this now because it’s my happy place. I journal and I write and mail letters to my friends and family.
  • Reading – I spend time with a good book because I can take myself to the place and events there that I can read about.

Zoom events, including Happy Hour!

Comment below and tell me how you are and what you are doing for self care at this point in time. Be Well my friends!

How the Unexpected Saved My Life

The most difficult loss in my life was the moment during my second pregnancy when the doctor said, “I’m not finding a heart beat” and I started to understand that I had lost my 2nd child at 18 weeks.

I gave myself a long mourning period where I did self-care and wrote a letter to my missing child. This process takes a long time. Take whatever time you need, but still notice what is making you happy. For me, I had one child and my job as her mom, was to take her to and from pre-school each day. I made that be my unique purpose. I took intentional action to be the best mom to her each day. I made sure we left with plenty of time to be early to school. I appreciated my daughter and who she was each day. She liked to pick dandelions and give them to me along the way. I carefully held on to the dandelions she handed to me until I got home after I dropped her off. When I did get home I filled a little glass with water and put the flowers in the water. My unique purpose was being the best mom I could be to my little girl. I did this day by day and started to feel good again and started to feel lesser and lesser amounts of pain. I still honored my losses. My husband and I worked well together this way. If there were things to get done and it was an off day for me, he picked up the ball of whatever the responsibility was. This was how I got through my days.

Everyone has a unique purpose. Only you know what yours is. I’m also spiritual and have faith in God. I believe God has a unique plan for each of us and He loves us. Working on exploring your unique purpose can lead us to clues about what God’s plan for us is. I try to live God’s will for me in my life each day and this is how I start.

Please comment and tell me what God’s will for you looks like each day! God Bless You!