Has Pandemic made you rethink priorities?

Has living through COVID-19 made you step back and rethink priorities? Your future? What is important?

I love to travel. I save my vacation time and money so that each year I have two weeks off in a row. My vacations have been Italy, Ireland, Spain and France to name a few. Needless to say not cheap with airfare (where I live nothing is direct), accommodations, food and of course spending money. As an aside planning for me is also half the fun – getting together and making a list of things to see and do (again $$).

So COVID-19 hits and no one is going anywhere. We are now into the second year and frankly I won’t be on a plane this year. So two years without travel. I should be saving and saving for my trip when this is finally over. Plus I had months of not getting out in lockdown so cash in the bank there.

What happened? Yes, I have still been saving as that is something I do even with travel. But I haven’t saved and saved for my blow out trip after pandemic. Why? I realized I still love travel and there are places I want to see (hopefully) when this is over. BUT I want to live now. I didn’t want COVID-19 to stop my life – to put it on hold until I could travel again. To write 1-2 years of my life off – to just “get through this”. Life is precious we don’t know how long we have. I have given up enough to COVID-19 I am not letting it dictate everything.

When I made the decision to live my best life now, during COVID-19, it changed my head space. Yes, to saving for the future as that was a given. I looked at what I could do during COVID-19 and realized I now had opportunities I wouldn’t have or taken if COVID-19 hadn’t happened. I know that sounds weird but it is true.

The first summer I took on a creative coach. I would NOT have done that if COVID-19 hadn’t happened. Why? That money would have gone to airfare. We also rented a cottage for a week. Again something I had never done before as my vacations were always booked to leave the country. It was lovely – totally relaxing and I felt good supporting people in my area. We’re going again this year – different place about three hour drive from home! Excited.

I decided I wanted to support local artisans so purchased some artisans boxes. Again not something I would have done before COVID-19 as money was always ear-marked for other things. Through this I have pieces now in my home to enjoy and wear.

COVID-19 has me stepping back and reviewing my priorities. Where I want to spend my time, money and energy. Yes to travelling in the future and I am and will save for that, but not at the expense of living now. Of stepping out of what I thought was my priority (vacations away) and living my best life at this time with what I can do. I will not let COVID-19 take that away. Readjust, look at what I can do, celebrate my wins, try new things – be flexible.

This awful time has given me space to rethink and be more flexible in what I want to do and experience. WOW a creative coach! A cottage on the water! Grabbing my wins and also making things happen during a difficult time (to say the least).

Has living through a pandemic changed your priorities? How you plan? Save? What you want in life? I would love to know your thoughts. Drop a line.

Intentional Christmas

This year has been about making do and being flexible. The entire world has been turned on its head. So many things have been taken out of our control. Some countries are now in their second wave and back in shutdown for this pandemic. We have no control over going to work, staying home, visiting or life in general in many cases.

The rest of the year and upcoming holidays are going to happen pandemic or not. I want to at least make the most of what I can. I also want to take back some control and for me that is focusing on what I can do.  2020 will go down in history as the year we pulled together or not.

I thought I’d gain some control by focusing on what I can be doing for the holidays. I want to enjoy what I can and not be overwhelmed. That means creating a plan. Making a list and checking it twice (hmm….that sounds familiar)!  This will also give me a sense of accomplishment as I check items off my list. Again, focusing on what I can control and do during this unsettled, to say the least, time.

My list is not all encompassing. It is what I want to tackle and get done in a timely fashion. I’m including my list here in case you want a bit of focus and help to keep you on track.  The majority of items are small things we often forget until the last minute.

Drop a line in the comments if you think of anything we should be adding to the list. We can make this holiday season the best we can if we focus on what we can control and make the most of what we have around us.

We have this!

Holiday list!!

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