Are You Adapting?
Life right now is far from normal, and really hasn't been for a little while. I am sure you have heard many people saying right now that they wish we could go back to normal, or calling this the "new normal" or even people saying in a more pessimistic tone that life as we know it will never go back to normal. But what exactly is normal? What do we mean when we want things to go back to normal? Sure, things right now are far different than they were in February of this year. You can't go to the grocery store without a mask on, I use hand sanitizer every single time I get into my car or walk into my office or home. I have made a new routine of wiping down my entire office at work before I even log-in for the morning and check my emails. That is extremely different than how things were when I was going into work before. So yes, things have changed drastically, but we as humans are fully capable of adapting to them.
Now that I have used the word "normal" more times that I can count in just the introduction of my post, let's talk about what I really set out to discuss today. Throughout all of our lives we are constantly adapting to things when we have to. Some of us have a better time adapting to new surroundings than others (yes I am talking to you, if you are someone who would rather argue with a minimum-wage essential worker at a grocery store about your rights not to wear a mask for twenty minutes rather than just putting it on and going about your business) but we all do have the ability to adapt to our surroundings. I know change is hard for a lot of people, myself included, but it is extremely necessary sometimes for both your mental and physical health. I am sure you can think of a ton of different ways you have adapted just in this year alone! We are all living in the same crisis at the moment. The most important part is accepting the inevitable change, and dealing with it moving forward the best you can.
So let's get into some more specific examples here. I think a great one to start with would be regarding the chain reaction that occurred at the beginning of this pandemic. I am sure none of us need to be reminded of the completely bare grocery store shelves and the lack of resources because of people hoarding them. The first week after that occurred I had no idea what I was going to do about lunches the following week. As someone who always meal preps that threw me for a loop. Since I couldn't find bread my boss's wife was able to track down some bread flour and yeast and so very kindly purchased it for me so I could bake my own. Sure baking a loaf of bread, even in a bread machine, takes a lot more time than just buying a loaf from the store, but I made due with what I had. When yeast became scarce I decided to start making sourdough bread which is naturally leavened. We pretty much all had to change around our plans especially when it came to food and providing meals for our families. I also do not even want to think about the ways people without toilet paper because of that shortage had to get creative! 😉 When we have a lack of resources, our instincts kick in and you find a way to make due. Now that the stores are overall pretty much back to functioning fully again, I am still continuing to make my own sourdough. I actually have a loaf rising as I write this. Do I have to? Nope, but I found it was something I enjoyed doing.
I think something else to talk about which is pretty important in my opinion is that we all need to realize that these adaptions need to stick around for a lot longer than anyone wants. You see cases of this virus skyrocketing again because so many people just want to carry on back to life before this was going on. I am not talking about small gatherings of course... but the articles you see where beaches are absolutely packed in Florida and Disneyworld opening back up with pictures of huge lines. I am talking about the house parties you hear about with 100+ people packed into a small house together. If you are back to working in an office like I am, you might notice one or two people that are just not following the rules they are suppose to be like wearing a mask to the copier or walking into someone else's personal space. Sure all of these things were more than okay before, but they just aren't now! If you are living your life as if nothing is going on, I hate to say that is so beyond ignorant at this point and you could be the reason someone gets severely sick or even dies. Take some responsibility for the sake of others and stop being so incredibly selfish.
I wasn't really planning on a rant with this post like that, but I personally feel it is so necessary. We are all adapting right now to a completely different world than we were living in four months ago. My friend Gina (shoutout if you are reading this haha) made a joke about me writing a post about the little croc-pot I bought to warm up my lunches at work as "the new normal" but it honestly fits. We cannot use the microwave because of the pandemic guidelines at work so I figured out a new way to still have a hot lunch at my desk. Just $25 later and I found a way to adapt to those guidelines and still be able to have a little bit of normalcy at the office while still following them. Maybe you have had to do something similar. Maybe you had to work through a regulation at work like I did. Maybe you changed brands of something you love because of the supply being low. Perhaps you also took up baking or cooking more at home. These changes do not have to be forever, it is important to remember that. But is is also important to remember that they are necessary right now.
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