Seize the Day
“Make good choices,” I call after my kids.
I don’t know if they’re even listening.
And sometimes I feel like I need my own reminder!
Somebody needs to hold my face, look me straight in the eyes and say “Make good choices, Chantel.” Darn it. Grownups have to be their own spoil-sport.
That’s why COVID 19 finally caught up to me.
It was bound to happen. Sooner or later. After all, I was out there. At the gym. At my daughter’s cheer competition. At the grocery store.
So here I am, in my house, quarantined from the world for ten days per CDC guidelines.
It’s a real bummer, although I know I’m luckier than most with symptoms that are mild. I have the tell-tale malaise, of course, and unfortunately I also lost my sense of taste and smell.
Utterly and completely.
Which is very weird.
Suddenly, 40% of the way I communicate with the world is gone.
And I know what people are thinking, the people who saw me at the gym or at the competition or doing my grocery shopping. They’re thinking
“Was it worth it?”
And I don’t know.
It’s easy to say yes when you don’t know what the consequences will be. I’m ten days out now from my very first symptom, and so far I haven’t heard that anyone close to me has gotten sick because of me.
I followed the rules. I wore a mask when I was out in public. At the gym, I wiped down the equipment after I used it.
But every time I went out, I assumed a certain amount of risk.
“Make good choices” is a reminder I need to tell myself.
One of the biggest and most important questions we ever ask ourselves is”
“Is this worth doing?”
Every decision I’ve ever made has been through the lens of whether or not something is “worth it.”
That question has never held more promise than it does right now, when deciding if something is worth doing affects so many people.
I’m the only one in my house who is sick, but everybody is home. My husband can’t go to work. My kids can’t go to school. All the people who were with me in the days leading up to my diagnosis had to be notified, and of course now they’re waking up every morning asking themselves if they still feel normal.
It’s easy to take for granted all the decisions we make. We’re lucky we get to choose. Choosing is a real privilege.
Americans have more choices than almost any other people group on the planet. Entire books have been written about the choices we make. The paradox of choice is a real thing: Having too many choices can lead to decreased feelings of happiness, less life satisfaction and even decision paralysis.
But choice is also the hallmark of our freedom.
And our faith.
I don’t know if I would have made different choices had I known I was going to get Covid. I did all the right things, except remain at home until I could get a vaccine.
And now I have a lot fewer choices. That’s both good and bad. Since I have to stay home, I don’t get to choose among all the fun options available to me right now. I know I’m going to dig in, order groceries via the Kroger Clicklist and surf Amazon for last minute gifts. I’m going to wrap presents and rest.
You’ve got choices, too.
One of the most important choices we have at our disposal is the response we make to the emotions we feel.
The other night I was talking with my sister-in-law and at the end of the conversation, I felt like I had been overly negative in my observations about what was happening in my life. “You know what?” I told her. “I can’t end the night like this. There’s so many good things in my life right now. I’m not going to hang up this phone until I’ve said five good things.”
And right then and there I listed them, my five good things:
1) sunshine streaming through the window
2) a good night’s sleep (10 hours!)
3) a little dog curled up on my lap
4) the arrival of the first Christmas cards
5) and good friends who have checked on me daily
We may not have as many choices as we used to have, but we can always choose to be thankful. There’s an added benefit, too: Did you know it’s almost impossible to be thankful and anxious at the same time?
If that’s true, then now is the perfect time to choose gratitude over grumbling and faith over fear.