Look for the Blessings as Restrictions Loosen

As restrictions loosen throughout the country this month, it may behoove you to take a beat and consider just what your new normal will look like. The shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic created a hole in time during which you actually were given a gift: time to consider your priorities, your purpose and your goals.

Many people found new interests, from gardening to cooking. Others either relished or regretted the extra forced time they spent with their families and roommates. Some shut down their companies, moved to a work-at-home environment or put business on hold.

Reports abound about people who started meditating, journaling or convening with nature. Memes fill social media with tales of woe from those who gained weight and turned into couch spuds. Hopefully, you found some lessons during the shutdown that will drive your decisions into a future closer to your design. Hopefully, you haven’t filled up on frustration and pent up anger at those things you can’t control right now.

A Revised Bucket List

Now is a good time to review your goals and take a revised bucket list into your new normal when restrictions loosen up even more. Consider your own personal takeaways that may include:

• Deciding to go into full-time work-at-home mode
• Allowing more of your employees to work remotely
• Cultivating new-found skills
• Taking a class or earning a degree
• Writing a book, short stories or poetry (or all three!)
• Joining a church or other spiritual practice group
• Retiring early
• Meeting a new fitness goal
• Closing your business
• Opening a new company
• Switching careers
• Pursuing your passion
• Getting married or divorced

The list can go on and on, but you get the idea. As restrictions loosen and you head back to the office, the gym, school and social gatherings, don’t forget the lessons that seemed so glaring when you had nothing else to do. Instead of rushing out to return to your old normal, take this challenge:

Figure out what new insights you learned about yourself.
Write down the lessons you learned.
Create a plan for your personal new normal.

Restrictions Loosen to a New Normal

The world is a different place today and will be for a while. We’re required to wear face masks as part of our regular public dress. We can’t shake hands or hug just anyone outside of our home. We won’t be going to concerts, sporting events or crowded churches in the near future. And who even knows how long small business owners can keep their doors open before another round of shutdowns comes?

Rather than rushing out to try to resume your personal and professional life as it was pre-coronavirus, as restrictions loosen, listen to your heart, review your insights and take the lessons you learned as a guide to:

• A better work/home balance
• A more rewarding career
• A smarter business plan
• New friends and relationships
• Healthier eating and exercising routines
• More productive personal and professional initiatives

Find the silver lining from these past few months. Don’t let it go to waste or just to your waist. Sometimes, we need a good hard slap in the face to snap us out of a rut, to redirect our energy and to get us to the great life we are meant to have. Consider the COVID-19 shutdown as that slap in the face to snap out of it, refreshed with new vigor, imagination and anticipation.

Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.