IF I HAD KNOWN THEN, WHAT I KNOW NOW

I remember the time I started this blog.  It was March 23rd.  Back then, we were just beginning to see this unraveling menace called COVID.  I was going to write an article about proper hygiene and how prevention is still the best medication to most of today's deadly diseases.

But we all know that by now and we have learned to adapt to a new normal, a new reality so to speak.  We all know why and how this dreadful disease came to existence.  Everyone has done their own finger pointing but sadly though that pointed finger rarely finds it way pointing backwards.  It's human nature to never admit to any fault and hide behind a false mask.  It's ironic if you think about it as you see more and more people wearing face masks as protection against this treacherous enemy.  An enemy that we all have a share in creating.  No doubt, this is the worst human failure at its best.

You know what's even sadder?  Social distancing.  I'll tell you why after a few paragraphs.

Last Sunday, we hit a deer (it lived miraculously), but it shocked me to my very core.  I was covering my face the whole time, crying, praying that we did not kill the poor creature.  I saw it land on the other side of the road and thank goodness there were very few cars out and so the deer was able to  safely flee into the woods. Our car, my precious Kona, ended up with a very big smile on its face.  Thank goodness it's only the exterior that was mangled, and thank goodness again that I was not behind the wheel, or it would have been catastrophic.  I would have probably ended up with a heart attack!  I was distraught and shaking, it was scary.

So in a matter of minutes, my brother in law and his wife, were at the scene. Once I saw them pull up, I stepped out of the car.  My sister in law is such a sweetheart, she said "Oh I wish I could hug you".  She knew i needed it, but she couldn't give me one. Because nothing appeases and comforts more than a freely given hug.

And that hit me!  This new normal called social distancing is just so cold and cruel.  It limits human interaction. It prevents us from hugging the ones we love during the time they need it the most.  It is just so unnaturally and inhumanly cold.

I am a people person and I grew up in a big family where we are practically bumping to each other when we were growing up. I keep in touch with my siblings as much as I can and I wish I had given them more hugs than I ever did, because, who knows when and if I can hug them again.

If I had known then what I know now...

I bet there are lot of us who are thinking this way:

  

"If only I had taken that trip a year ago"

"If only I was there on their 50th anniversary"

"I wish I visited my folks every summer before all of this blew up"

"If only I could turn back the hands of time, I would have done so much more."

Your list can go on and on and on.  And that's perfectly fine.  We are all allowed to have regrets, we are all entitled to have frustrations and to be disappointed, to be sad and, at some point, feel guilty.  We are human beings, designed to make mistakes and meant to bear the grunt of what is going on.

I know it sounds like a downer, but realization is the key to finding most solutions to life's problems.   

TAKE OWNERSHIP.  It may suck at first, but it is what it is. Once you face the situation squarely and look at it like a mirror staring back at you, it will make sense.  And once it makes sense, you will:

• feel a lot better,
• start being kinder to yourself and to the world,
• start moving on and making progress. 

It's called living the ONE LIFE you have point by point.

All I can say is that I will keep adding to my COVID list.  And once I can and once I am allowed to, I will venture out into the world again, seize the day, and make it all happen! And you can bet, one of them is to give FREE HUGS!

COVID is not the end of it!  It will end in time, we will move on from this, for THIS TOO SHALL PASS..

#COVID

#StaySafe

#KeepInTouch

#VirtualHugForNow

#FeelTheLove