Just be.

As I sit here in my little twin bed in my childhood bedroom in the heart of Columbia TN, I am feeling nothing but simply grateful.

If you would have asked my this time last week, it would have been the opposite. I was downright angry. Angry at the corona virus for messing up my spring break trip I had planned for months. Angry at my sophomore year of college being cut short. Angry that my life, selfishly, had been interrupted. I'm almost embarrassed to type this- because how petty of me?

I was inconsiderate and angry at feeling that MY life was being inconvenienced. But I didn't take a second to think about the children who can't eat because the only meals they eat are at school. I didn't think about the ones who have lost someone they love due to the virus. I forgot to think about the other half of the world that lives in poverty or without things that I so selfishly take for granted.

Yes, this pandemic may have cut my school year short. But I have my life, my family, and great friends still- and that is nothing to complain about.

I personally get so consumed in the hustle of everyday life that I never slow down and just thank God for what I have. This virus outbreak has forced me to slow down. It allowed me to come home for the first time since Christmas. It allowed me to reconnect with childhood friends and talk for hours about our futures. It allowed me to sit in silence on my front porch and do yoga with my mom. It made me to realize that life is is more about being than it is about doing, while being grateful in the process.

So I'm writing this to encourage you, and honestly myself, to embrace this quiet. Embrace the inconvenience. Embrace the boredom. And to be thankful that it is boredom rather than fear of survival .

I now choose to look at it this time as serenity rather than interruption. A time to reflect rather than to worry. A time to be thankful and gracious rather than angry or inconvenienced. A time for growth and creativity rather than annoyance or dissatisfaction.

We simply will never get this precious time back; and there is just too much to be grateful for to waste this time being angry.