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Old 04-05-21, 06:17 PM  
FirmDancer
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Like others, I've been shocked at the rudeness of people. I live in a county that is highly on the "Covid is a hoax" side so there is little mask-wearing other than when enforced in stores. (Quite ironically though, this county now has the highest rate in all of Maryland.)

But the biggest lessons I've learned thru the pandemic relates to mental health. & dang it - how important it is to show compassion for someone suffering. At the start of the pandemic, I had full-blown anxiety. There were other personal issues that contributed, and the bad stuff just kept coming. At my job, I report to a site director but also dotted-line report to a regional administrator. One morning, something happened & I spiraled down. I was in tears. I called the regional administrator & tearfully said I just needed to talk to someone. (It didn't even need to be her! maybe she could point me to some help.) Well, she said she was on another call & would call back in a few minutes. She did not. In fact, she didn't call back that day. She never called back. As the day wore on, I was stunned. How could it be possible that I was at the end of my rope, called someone I report to, & they never called me back ?!?

On the other hand, I made several new friends. New friends that I could talk to. And if they didn't hear from me for a few days, they would call just to check on me! And now, as the anxiety subsides and I plan to make some major life-changes, I look forward to deepening these friendships & doing fun stuff.

So my biggest lesson is to pay attention to what people are saying, pay attention to their texts & emails, and if someone in my life seems troubled, I make sure to reach out to them.
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Old 04-05-21, 06:34 PM  
Paine
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I've always been thankful that my family is healthy and doing OK financially but I'm even more thankful that they remained healthy and employed during the pandemic. My heart breaks for those who lost loved ones and lost jobs because of the pandemic. I'm thankful that my DH and I have had both Pfizer vaccines (we are senior citizens).

My consistency and motivation to work out has suffered during the pandemic and I don't understand why. It's been depressing to see what the pandemic has done to our country and to the world.

This has nothing to do with the pandemic and I'm embarrassed to admit this but in the last year I find that I'm getting more and more frustrated with the aging process and all that goes along with aging in my golden years.

Gams, I'm sorry that people have been mean to you.
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Old 04-06-21, 09:19 AM  
Pat58
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I always hear people talk about the kindness of strangers, but I’ve been more surprised by the rudeness of strangers. I have had total strangers walk up to me and tell me I look stupid wearing a mask. I don’t understand why they would even comment. When one guy told me I looked stupid in my mask, I thought I’d try a little humor so I said, “Well, I figure wearing a mask is cheaper than a face lift.” He said, “Well, you still look stupid.” I don’t understand all the hostility toward total strangers.
Isn't it awful? I had a jerk in a pickup truck literally follow me as I was walking through the Stop & Shop parking lot and he was yelling profanities at me. I told him to go F off. Numerous other incidents where I live against people and businesses that I won't go into.
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Old 04-06-21, 09:31 AM  
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So as for the things COVID has taught me about myself:

Maybe I’m not quite as introverted as I thought?

I need to work, and am so scared to death of losing my job (my job can’t be done at home) that my co-workers and I banded together and begged to be allowed to work in the office again, with lots of restrictions. I don’t think I can ever fully retire, I’ll need something to get up and go to on a part-time basis, even if it’s volunteer work.

I learned that cloth masks are actually wonderful for outdoor activities when it’s cold out and I’ll continue to wear one when winter walking.

I discovered just how much I really love the gym. I was going nuts without it. That said, I hope that every other cardio machine being offline stays that way forever.

I decided to permanently give up on “hairdos” and am growing my hair out to COVID length again.

I was always kind to store clerks but now I’m doubly appreciative of them.

I realized just how important my book club is to me (a/k/a The Book Thugs as my DH calls us). I’m heartbroken that the club is fizzling out because of library closures and the shutdown of our inter-library loan system. We have a hard and fast rule to explore what's on the library shelves instead of having to buy new books.

I learned how to use less sheets of toilet paper.

And finally, I learned that ZOOM is a real suck-fest.
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Old 04-06-21, 09:38 AM  
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Isn't it awful? I had a jerk in a pickup truck literally follow me as I was walking through the Stop & Shop parking lot and he was yelling profanities at me. I told him to go F off.
How bizarre! I can't even imagine. My state mandated masks, so I guess even dissenters were forced into (pseudo)compliance. I heard plenty of grumbling, but never any outright harassment!

This year, I learned that I'm content to be content. I have no interest wading into choppy political waters. No interest in debating or defending or condemning or being offended. (I do believe in right/wrong and righteous anger...but sadly, that's not what I'm seeing out there...)

I've confirmed that I'm definitely an introvert. The only thing that changed for me this year was that I could skip the gazillion social events my extrovert teens participate it (and need me to drive them to).
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Old 04-06-21, 10:29 AM  
donnamp
 
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Hi,

I love this thread.

I guess what this year has taught me is pretty much what I already knew about myself - I'm an introvert and I'm quite happy to keep my own company. To be honest, being homebound and restricted has not been a terrible sacrifice for me. Sure I'd like things to get back to normal, but being stuck in this lower key lifestyle has not been a hardship for me.

I have been lucky enough to be able to work from home this whole time, so maybe I would feel differently if that was not the case - I mean, I get my daily dose of outside social interaction from work...and my immediate family.

I also have been able to let go of perfectionism - I am much more content to let things slide...and that is something I want to keep moving forward into the new reality. There is no need to sweat the small stuff and it is totally ok to put off for tomorrow what I could do today. On some things anyway. And, I'm hoping I can keep that more chilled out mindset.

I am grateful that my DH and DD have been home throughout this w/ work from home and virtual school. My DD is graduating from HS in a few months and she did not enjoy HS very much at all so in some ways it wasn't a bad thing for her to be virtual for the last year and a half. I'm also happy that I had this time to spend w/ her before she goes off to college. We became regular walking buddies covering many miles on the weekends and now that the weather is better, during the week as well. The lower key lifestyle has definitely improved our family time and I hope that it will ground my DD as she heads forward to college in the fall.

Fortunately, I haven't run into many anti-maskers here - most people are compliant, even if they don't agree with it.

The state of the world and stories I read are depressing and distressing, but in my bubble things have been fine.

Donna
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Old 04-06-21, 01:15 PM  
annette
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Isn't it awful? I had a jerk in a pickup truck literally follow me as I was walking through the Stop & Shop parking lot and he was yelling profanities at me. I told him to go F off. Numerous other incidents where I live against people and businesses that I won't go into.
Not necessarily COVID related but... My DH works at Home Depot. For some reason he has decided to let his hair grow long and honestly it doesn't look that great but that's another story. Anyway, he and a co-worker with many arm tattoos were approached by a customer with a question. Before either DH or the other guy could answer the customer said "Never mind. I can't believe all the tattooed and long haired freaks they have working here". Then he walked away. They thought it was funny but why do people think it's okay to make comments like that?
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Old 04-06-21, 01:17 PM  
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I learned that cloth masks are actually wonderful for outdoor activities when it’s cold out and I’ll continue to wear one when winter walking.
THIS! While pressure cleaning mold off the fence, I wore the mask and it was great. I started mowing the lawn this year as well, and wow, it throws up so much dust and debris that I don't think I'll ever do it again without a mask.
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Old 04-06-21, 01:26 PM  
Paine
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I forgot to mention that when we went into a pandemic lockdown in March of 2020, I wasn't able to go to a salon to get my hair cut and colored. Well, I decided to let the gray come in and I've been trimming my hair myself ever since. I have saved a LOT of money by not going to the salon! I don't think I'll ever go back to a hair salon again.
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Old 04-06-21, 02:48 PM  
Joni O
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I'm not an introvert in the sense that I'm shy; I'm very outgoing when I'm around people - I just prefer not to be around many people, I guess. Hubby and I have always done things on our own. We don't need a group or even another couple to enjoy what we're doing. We don't mind groups, we just don't need them or often don't prefer them. We are not suffering from loneliness or pulling our hair out because we haven't eaten in a restaurant in a year. Take-out is fine.

I personally am enjoying not having to hug every damn person I see - both hello and good-bye. My family are not huggers. Hubby's family are. It's insane and I'm sticking to my guns in the future - immediate family only! And people who I want to hug for a reason! Not step-daughter's husband's niece and nephew who I see twice a year, etc.

Like Alta, things really haven't changed all that much for me. I mean they have, but I'm not negatively affected by that.

I miss going to car shows and art fairs, but they're slowly coming back. We went on our annual Florida trip this year - masked up and social distanced. I've become a good dodger of people. It will be nice not to have to do that eventually.

I've always known myself pretty well and haven't learned anything about myself during the pandemic. I'm just more comfortable with myself now.
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