Drop the sails and ride it out

When the pandemic became real and stay-at-home orders were issued, my first instinct was that I needed to use this time to finish my Sacrificial Lambs screenplay and lose weight and make progress against a half-dozen other personal improvement goals. There was a lot of that kind of “when Shakespeare was quarantined for the plague he wrote King Lear” going around - I even posted that on Facebook.

Side note: he may or may not have - there is not proof. Hell, for that matter, some question whether he wrote any of his plays. But I digress.

For the last couple weeks, however, I’ve been singing a different tune to coworkers and family. For all the “rough seas make good sailors” talk, this is not standard choppy day on the water. For most of us, this is a full-on hurricane. We are living through a historic pandemic, and the national and global economy has fallen into recession and may be headed for depression.

Many of us are living in fear for our 70- or 80-something-year-old parents, both because of COVID-19 and because any other ailment they might have or get could put them mortal danger. We are worried for the safety of our families, siblings, children. We have close friends in the medical profession who are risking their lives daily. Many of us have young adult children who are beginning their careers in the worst economy since 1929. Many have lost their jobs and many more may yet lose their jobs.

Even if we haven’t been directly impacted by the actual virus at this point, many are still working, trying to meet our work objectives while also managing having the kids at home, trying to keep them learning in their virtual classes, trying to help family and friends who need it…

The list of real and potential miseries goes on.

Yes, there are times when you put out more sail in a storm to try to harness those winds to cover even more distance than you could normally.

For many or even most of us, this is not that storm of opportunity. This is a fight for survival, emotionally, mentally and even physically. In a storm like this, the only thing you can do is drop the sails and ride it out. Take care of your family. Get the work done you need to get done. Pay attention to the essentials. And let the rest go.

And extend to yourself and others grace and understanding. Not guilt.

Stay safe and hang in there.