Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

Anonymous

It seems like an oxymoron. How can we have gratitude while quarantined because of the Covid Pandemic? Our lives are disrupted in so many ways. What good can come of it?

I took a yoga class the other day with a yoga instructor who talked a lot about gratitude during our practice. Throughout the session, she reminded us to think of something we were grateful for. And to put a smile on our face. When you smile, you can’t help but feel better.

It turns out that once you start thinking about it, there are a lot of positive things that have happened to each of us during the past 4 months. For some people, it meant getting to those tasks that were saved for a rainy day. Others took classes on line that they did not have the time for previously. And then there are those who started baking bread and other goodies during this time. Suddenly we had an abundance of time to do all of those things at home that we wanted to do for so long.

After the yoga class, I went to my sketchbook journal and started writing. By then it wasn’t too hard to find gratitude for many things in my life.

July 8, Day 126 for Mr. Twitchy and me. We started the quarantine early because we were exposed March 1.

4 1/2 months we have lost Time that will never be returned. Has anything good come out of it?

1. Connecting with our grandchildren in Chicago more often, in a more meaningful way – reading to them, playing games with them. And the same for our grandchildren in Los Angeles.

2. Brought together over 160 women from at least 4 countries for Sunday Mornings with Twitchy Women since March 22. Everything has fallen into place so quickly and I have met so many impressive women in the process.

3. Learning to play golf – getting out with Mr. Twitchy 2 afternoons a week in the sunshine (getting that much needed Vitamin D)

Looking back in my journal, there were many more expressions of gratitude throughout the 4 1/2 months.

Just 2 weeks ago, I wrote about “a remarkable couple of days” after being nominated in 3 categories (now 5) for the WEGO Health awards and being named one of 9 for Healthline’s Best in Blog 2020, with only 3 being patient bloggers. Yet the entry before that was about the marches and riots, constant helicopters overhead and anarchy in Seattle. Even that entry managed to find gratitude for talking to friends on the phone & Zoom, lifting of some more Quarantine restrictions, etc.

Now I understand why journaling is so important, especially if you have a chronic disease. Keeping a journal captures moments of your life and gives you insight into what has changed over time. It also allows you to see what has been good and what has not been so good, even on the same day. I don’t write every day. Sometimes a couple of weeks will go by, but I am still telling my story. It will always be there for me to go back to when I need it. I will be reminded of what to be grateful for, in spite of everything, and to smile.

If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.

Rabbi Harold Kushner