Today's MOZEN: Living a Full Life

F LoBuono

Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

We are in the midst of those times. The Corona Virus, COVID-19, has affected all of us to different degrees. Some have had to deal with the most serious consequence, i.e. the death of a loved one, while others are experiencing the difficulties of lost businesses and wages. All of us are feeling the effects of the changes in our social behaviors. These changes are so unique to our generation that we've even had to invent a new term to describe one of them: Social Distancing.

In order to slow the infection rate, medical experts have stressed the need to isolate ourselves and limit our exposure to one another. When interaction is absolutely necessary, in addition to other safety measures, we should maintain a minimum distance of of 6 feet.

As we are social beings, this isolation has caused varying degrees of distress. Certainly, for most of us, being prevented from engaging in simple, but essential, social interaction can be a cause for dangerous disorders like depression.

Speaking personally. I'm in better shape than most. As a highly social creature, I have an active social life with a fair amount of good friends and a solid family. But, I am also a single man and have been for the majority of my life. So, I'm quite used to to spending a good portion of my time alone, entertaining myself. Sure, I miss the so-called nightlife, the social interaction is stimulating, but it's only one part of a full life.

There's still:

Reading - writing - photography - cooking - binge TV watching - meditating - walking - nature - wine - whiskey - smoke - music - organizing - napping - napping - eating - exercising - napping - cleaning - eating - napping - computing - sitting - singing - napping - eating - and, napping.

Life is what you make it. It always has been that way. So, in a sense, this is really nothing new. It may be grander in scale than what we are used to, but that does not make it insurmountable. There will ALWAYS be challenges because there always have been. It's all in the way we meet them.

Failure is not an option.