If you read my other blogs, you know my story. I did an eleven month mission trip to eleven different countries. I lived in Africa for four of the months. I partnered with ministries based out of refugee settlements and ministries that were 3 hours away from the nearest city or store. My months in Africa felt a lot like this, but luckily I have a bed and a shower now.

When I was going into this quarantine, I knew exactly what I had to do to stay sane. I want to share what I did and what I am doing now to see if it will help you get out of the social distancing blues. I have seen so many people say they are just going to sit around, relax, and catch up on TV. Well, I did that in Africa (yes we had Netflix) and it hurt me for the worst. I am getting vulnerable but I experienced another level of sadness and loneliness I have never felt before.

I think this is a beautiful time to get stuff done, accomplish some goals, and come out better than you were before. Hopefully my story and tips will help you!

It is hard to see the silver linings in anything that is causing as much harm as COVID-19 is within our world. I try my best to see as much good and purpose as I can in everything. I wanted to share some thoughts I had during lockdown….

I have never been closer to my family

Literally, we were in the same house. Obviously, some days I wanted to crawl into a hole but I am so thankful for this time with my family. I loved our daily walks with the dogs (that we would do like three times a day with a drink in hand) around the neighborhood. I loved even the grocery store trips, making food together, the nightly movies. All these things I took for granted my entire life.

I worked on self peace

I have struggled with self peace for a long time. Now? I had no choice but to address the issue. I did through daily workouts, yoga, and meditation, a clear drawn out daily schedule, investing in my school work and preparing to move and be an adult (ew), and figuring out what I wanted to do next since my five-year plan is a disaster.

My to-do list is smaller

Does anyone else have a daily to-do list and then their master to-do list? The list where it could take 5 minutes or a few hours to complete a task but you are not sure which ones will take longer so you just do not do any of them at all? I cannot be the only one… right? I finally made that list, posted it to my wall, and time blocked until I finished as much as I could over my 7 weeks of lockdown before moving out (lockdown was still longer but I moved out post stay at home order in AZ).

I dove deeper into my relationships + even met "my person"

I focused on my relationships with everyone in my life. This included seeing who my true friends are, who I wanted to invest in, who I did daily bible studies with via Facetime, and I even met my boyfriend during the pandemic (I am releasing a blog on it next month). I finally had the time, energy, and space to create the relationships I wanted and to pour into each one.

I invested in my community

I spent time volunteering at food banks, delivering items to people who could not leave their homes, praying over families, and just being there when someone needs me. It was the best part of my days. The community has truly come together during this time.