Make it a Good Day: Stay At Home!

When “366 Good Days” started in 2016, it was all about making yourself feel good by doing good deeds for others.  At the beginning of 2020, it expanded to be about making yourself feel good by embracing the good in the world around you.  After all, we need to fill our own cup with joy until it overflows for others.

Now, 2020 has changed its look.  It changed from being the year of “2020 Vision” to the year of, “We didn’t see THAT coming!”  Yes, “THAT” is the virus…COVID-19.  Life as we know it has changed.  Maybe not as drastically as a dystopian zombie movie, but we’ve endured a pretty a significant disturbance.  We have been asked to become a world of isolated people despite our general nature to socialize and mingle.  How, in these times, do we have a good day?

It’s simple.  Stay at home!

You’ve heard it before, and you’ll read it countless times from others.  Stay at home.  Despite nay-sayers, the science shows that staying at home is our best defense against this novel coronavirus.  Humans do not have a natural immunity (thus the term novel, meaning new or not previously identified).   There is no vaccine approved for use against this disease.

Any treatments against the virus are experimental and not yet proven effective.  The best way to prevent others from getting sick is to stay at home and to not act as an unknowing carrier of this invisible virus.

The best thing to do for friends and family that live elsewhere is to stay at home.

I know it seems like you’re really not doing anything helpful, but you are.  Imagine that you are camping, and the virus is a bear wandering through your campsite at night.  Is it best to leave your tent and go sprinting to another trailer…thus bringing a chasing bear along with you?  No!

Stay put and let the bear move on.

If everyone stays put…and if others stay put, all will be fine!  But one person sprinting to another tent can cause harm to them as well as others.

Just stay put!

Is there any other way you can help?  Sure!

Reach out to others with a phone call or via social media!  Send a letter to a friend…people ALWAYS like receiving a letter in the mail!  Get some rest and relaxation for yourself in advance of the work necessary to get the world back to normal.  There are so many things that you can do for yourself and for others, even when you’re staying at home.

Yes, I know many people are working harder than ever, especially healthcare workers putting their very lives on the line.  There are employees at the local grocery stores and box stores working harder than ever handling “pick-up” and “delivery” orders more than ever before.

I was in Target yesterday for my weekly grocery run, and the amount of red shirt-wearing employees gathering orders and restocking shelves was mind-blowing.   To all of these people working so hard, I send my gratitude and love.  (Hey…there’s an idea.  Just write thank you cards to any healthcare worker or other hard-working person that you know…or that you don’t know!) 

To those stuck at home…remember that you’re not really “stuck,” but you’re “safe” at home.  And you’re keeping others safe as well.  Stay safe!  Stay at home!  Make it a good day for everyone!