Recently, I find myself paralyzed by uncertainty, weighed down by the weight of my own expectations.
These really are strange times. Even though here in the UK the lockdown is gradually lifting, there is so much uncertainty about what will happen next. With the virus, with the global economy, with life as we know it.
I am actually finding this stage harder to deal with than the full lockdown! So many ‘what ifs’. So many parts of life that might not get back to normal for a long, long time.
The strangeness of having family or friends to visit, so wonderful to see them, but they have to sit in the garden (in the rain on one occasion!) and I have to think twice about offering them a cup of tea.
The sense of almost-back-to-normal when I meet with friends for walks, and the difficulty of remembering to walk 2 metres apart when we have 3 months worth of catching up to do!
Skyping family and friends on the other side of the world and wondering when I’ll actually be able to see them again – could it be months? Years?
Hearing that I won’t be able to go back to the office 6-12 months. I really like working from home, and I normally work from home 3 days a week anyway, but I’m starting to feel a bit isolated without my weekly trips to the office to chat (I mean work).
Uncertainty and worry over work, the pandemic, the economy, the future…it is paralysing! It stops me from doing what I need to do and what I want to do.
It stops me from writing.
It stops me from painting.
It makes me agonise over decisions – or not make decisions at all.
It makes me want to lie on the sofa and scroll through the news AGAIN, as if the answer is there somewhere if only I scroll further.
The uncertainty is not going to go away anytime soon.
I’m the one who is going to have to change, to learn to live with it.
Adjust my expectations about what I can achieve during this time. Find a way to move forward, to make choices, even when I don’t know what is ahead. Enjoy what I can do instead of focusing on the things I can’t do. Simply enjoy the summer.
What about you? How are you coping?
Life in the Fresh Air 
I’m finding this period harder Sarah. It’s strange because it doesn’t feel as though anything has changed and yet all the rules are being relaxed and people are acting like ‘normal’ in many cases. And then at work (which I’m still doing from home) I’m planning for the re-opening of services and feel quite overwhelmed by everything we need to think about….I think the next couple of months will be quite stressful ones.
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I actually saw an article on the BBC website today Andrea, about people finding coming out of lockdown harder than being in it. So many things to think about and get used to, and with a virus that is still out there. I hope you manage to navigate your way through the next few stressful months. The BBC article linked to this from Mind, sharing it incase there is anything in it of use to you or anyone who reads this comment! https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus/managing-feelings-about-lockdown-easing/
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Thanks Sarah.
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