The COVID-19 pandemic altered our world, and it's probably permanent. We're all looking at a 'new normal' for our world going forward. Being isolated from everyone else leads to a lot of self-reflection and opportunities for change. Our world has moved at a faster and faster pace each year driven by technology and media which pace our lives in sync with the much faster tech. COVID changed that for me. I reevaluated my life, my stress, and the ongoing battles I have with my health. I've always loved my job - teaching. I've always loved young people. Still, COVID was a harsh warning that nothing lasts forever. I needed to look at what my future would look like. What did I want or need from my life post work? As a part of my counseling sessions, I worked through the answer to that question.
I have no intention of sitting in a rocking chair and waiting to die. Instead, all of the yesterdays when I didn't take a road trip or visit a friend and wished afterward that I had, await me. I've begun the planning for spending time visiting friends, far and near. I will spend more time with my kids than they'll probably appreciate. There has been so much death, so much loss for the last year. My family fought a ten year battle courtesy of Alzheimer's Disease and Myasthenia Gravis. Blessed with my dad living to the age of 90 and my mom who will turn 89 in August, I encountered the caregiver realities. I felt I could never do enough and living so far away layered on guilt. Life had become a struggle to survive the stresses with little to no joy in it.
No more. I set the date. My reality will move from teaching to writing, from Oklahoma to somewhere else. It's an exciting thought. It's a fun opportunity to open myself up to change of many kinds. My advice is to rethink your world post COVID. Not everyone needs to make a drastic change, but this year offered us many things.
Evaluate them. Embrace them.
