Changes

 This was me yesterday, having been “kidnapped” by my girlfriend.  My sister commented that my kidnapper allows a lot of freedom in communication, and I laughed and said that they weren’t aware of how easy it is to make calls 😂  I’m glad I went, and I had fun — in part because I hadn’t seen that friend in a very long time.  Combining compromised immune systems and a sixth!!! wave of this virus means that seeing people is a low priority, although I’m thankful for video calls.  Jerry would probably not care too much one way or the other, except that it means fewer people calling him cute and petting him.  Don would also be happy not to have too much exposure, given his age and my condition.  Either way, though, getting back into crowds will be a bit of a challenge for us, and possibly a cause of some stress.  To maintain my sanity and stabilize everything, I’ll continue to wear my mask in public and avoid crowds as I’ve done for years before this pandemic.  Now, as much as I enjoyed my outing yesterday, I have to confess to pain today, much more than I’ve had in the past few days.  😔 I’ll rest up tonight and tomorrow and hope it passes.  But I will find ways to go out again soon.

I had a phone appointment today with a social worker.  It’s the first time in a long while, and I’m never quite sure what to say in a first appointment, and less to a social worker.  We did talk about things like quality of life, as compared to quantity;  and the value of life.  That being said, I do appreciate being able to find ways of enjoying my daily existence.  I mentioned that I’d started a gratitude journal, and somehow I’d never written down “quality of life “ as a source of happiness.  Although I imagine that the things I did enjoy made it one.  I also had one of those aha moments that shouldn’t have been one.  Years ago, when I coached people to prepare for job interviews, I always said to them that they needed to remember that people didn’t know what was happening inside their heads, so it was very important to articulate your thoughts.  She reminded me that it was necessary to do that even if you’re not participating in an interview.  She said that resentment bred from not telling people what I expected from them.  So if I kept my thoughts to myself, nobody would know what I was feeling and therefore I could end up feeling frustrated because people didn’t react as I’d expect.  

That being said, I’d like to let everyone know that I’d enjoy being able to plan my retirement party, which had to be postponed because of the pandemic.  It would form a nice bit of closure for me.  When can this happen?  Is that a good, clear request ?  I’d also like to go to Trinidad, so it would be super wonderful if people could please get vaccinated and drop the levels of infection, please!!

That’s it for today.  So I wish you a good night, and all good things as we go ahead.  Take care!