Life Lessons Learned During COVID-19

As Texas slowly starts to try and return to “normal,” I am going to do my best to remember and practice a few life lessons learned during COVID-19.

Slow down.

With three young kids, we found ourselves pretty busy with activities and school. We needed to prioritize our commitments and allow ourselves to say no. Unscheduled down time has been so good for our souls.

Savor and appreciate my kids.

I do not know if it is their ages as they get a little older, and we’re feeling a little less like we are just surviving, or if it was this uninterrupted time to just be a family, but I think I realized I didn’t truly appreciate my kids before. I love them something fierce, I care for them each day until I’m exhausted, but did I really appreciate them? Appreciate who they are as little people? Appreciate who they are becoming?

Put down my phone.

We know as a society we are way too dependent on our phones, way too connected to technology, and way too invested in what is happening outside of our immediate space. I want to focus on my life right now, with my people.

Look around at the beauty God created for us.

We take for granted every day that we live in a world filled with color, that we can smell wonderful smells, and taste delicious flavors. God did not have to give us a world of beauty, but He did and we often overlook what is around us. As overused as the saying is, we really do need to STOP and smell the roses.

Show and say my gratitudes.

Especially to my husband. You get so comfortable with the person you love the most that so much becomes expected. But a relationship shouldn’t be based on expectation, it should thrive on love, communication, and gratitude. I could not be who I am without him, and vice versa. That same gratitude should extend to our family and our friends. Each of them impacts our lives and we are who we are because of them. We have so much to be thankful for! 

Read and write every day.

Growing up it was just a part of our day; we went to school day in and day out, so of course we would read and write every day. But as adults, do we truly read and write every day? I know my job as a stay-at-home-mom doesn’t always call for me to write. I love the feeling of a pen in my hand and I love to read a variety of sources each day: children’s books, news articles, books for fun, the Bible, blog posts…we just have to make the time.

Get creative.

This is so open-ended! We have stretched our creative wings in many ways during this time. Dancing, building, painting, singing, taking walks, planning family vacations in our home, road trips, fishing, exploring local parks, catching frogs, hatching butterflies: whatever it is that you do, have fun! Enjoy what’s around you, step out of the familiar, and embrace the moment.

I know we will all be slowly easing into life again and I hope when the dust truly settles and COVID-19 is well behind us, that we don’t forget all we have learned. I strongly believe even in these dark times we have so much light and I am holding tight to that.