What unexpected blessings have you found during this long period of social distancing?
- More time to enjoy nature and the changing of the seasons.
- Less hectic lifestyle. That’s come about because there are no activities (baseball, hockey, basketball, etc.) for the grandchildren and therefore no activities for us to shuttle them to or games to cheer them on.
- Regular, daily after-dinner devotions. (Again, that’s because of the explanation given above.)
- Really enjoy pre-taped church services. It’s as if the minister is speaking directly to us and we’ve gotten a lot out of them. Also, we enjoy singing (in harmony) during the taped services.
- More money, to rephrase that … saving money. That’s because we can’t travel, go to concerts, plays, etc. or go out to restaurants other than the occasional take-out meal.
- More time to read – for education, for devotions, for pleasure.
- Time to renovate. Might as well do something constructive with all this free time.
- Less pollution, cleaner air, quieter because of less travel, manufacturing. This is temporary of course, but pleasant.
- More “alone time” to be contemplative and “couple time”, two things in short supply during normal times.
- Because of social distancing, I have been able to be more intentional about reaching out to the people I want to stay connected to.
- Though Skype, Zoom and Facetime aren’t the same as meeting in person, thankfully, modern technology has allowed us to stay in contact with each other. Also, people now have time for phone conversations again.
- On-line exercise classes to stay active, while the studios are closed down.
- Neighbours are reaching out more than usual. “We’ve gotten to know neighbours we wouldn’t have [known] if it weren’t for the pandemic.” “When out walking, we greet everyone, whether or not we know them. Almost everyone is receptive to engage. It is human to need to feel connected.” “Everybody does need somebody.” “We are all in this together”
- Because of a lack of regular organized activities, people have found themselves with more time to help others needing assistance for various reasons.
- Neither my husband, myself or my elderly mother had one cold, flu or even a sniffle for more than a year. Obviously, wearing masks, washing hands and practicing social distancing works.
- ….that we have more than enough and have each other.
- A greater appreciation for how privileged we are – good health, solid home, good relationships with family
In quick strokes:
Some of the unexpected blessings are “mixed blessings”, a loss and a gain.
Again, the responses clearly reveal that we are almost all retired from active, full-time employment.
The responses that were received also show that we seem to be a privileged group. We haven’t had to go into a possibly risky work environment or homeschool our children while working from home or outside of home. We appear to enjoy our homes and surrounding property and neighbourhoods. Many of us likely receive pensions, because many responses mentioned “saving money” due to not being able to travel or go to restaurants. We might even be enjoying a brief respite from the busyness of our normal lives.
For your listening pleasure…
Count Your Blessings (Live) Guy Penrod