How to Stay Positive During COVID-19, by Doro Bush Koch

I don' t know about you, but my mind is racing about COVID-19.  When I first heard about the outbreak, I was thinking clearly.  Life was rolling along as usual.  Admittedly, I did start to clean my counters a little more, and wash my hands a little more vigorously, and I was coping. The second I heard that we are now facing a pandemic, everything changed and it was all over but the shouting!  All of the sudden, thoughts of doom began bouncing around my head like a ping pong ball on crack.  Am I going to get it?  Will I be infected grocery shopping or on the elliptical at the gym?   Is my phone a Petri dish for germs?  I need hand sanitizer NOW.  Now that I think about it, my neighbor sneezed near me last week.  Did my dog just cough?  I'm definitely going to die of Coronavirus.  Will anyone come to my funeral?  Where is my therapist when I need her?????  

AHHHHHH......STOP THE MADNESS.  

Now is the time to take a long, deep breath and return to the present moment because the truth is everything in this moment (when I ignore those crazy thoughts in my head). When I let those thoughts pass by, like clouds in the sky, I can see that the space in-between the thoughts is not such a bad place to be. I have found sitting quietly between Zoom meetings and doing a short meditation on my phone or just listening to the bird song with the door open letting the cool spring air into the house calms my mind.  And with a calm mind I can begin to think about COVOD-19 in a different way.  What can I be doing in this time of social distancing that's positive?  Why not flip the hysteria and do things previously left on the back burner in the hustle and bustle of life BC (before coronavirus).

Here is a list of affirmative activities I plan to implement in the coming days:

1. Meditate:  Re-up my meditation practice.  Twenty minutes in the morning and the evening using my Ten Percent Happier App.

2. Write some letters (yes, by hand!): To friends I want to thank or simply be in touch with

3. Read:  I'm currently reading Writers & Lovers by Lily King

4. Work on a jigsaw puzzle: I love Liberty puzzles

5. Get out in nature: Ride my bike along the C&O canal

6. Check in on my elderly neighbors:  Make sure they have everything they need.

What can you do to stay positive during COVID-19?