Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude

I’d be lying if I said the pandemic has not affected me. It has. I’m an extrovert and enjoy and feed off others energy. I like to be busy.

In January, my husband and I took a vacation, and after we returned I immediately started a new job.   My position involves a lot of home study and computer work the first couple months during training.  During this time, I am home all day, reading, and taking tests. I am used to this and it doesn’t normally bother me.  Fast forward to the first week in March, when I travelled to Indiana and back.  Upon return, the lockdowns occurred. 

Since then I have been working from home.  Mind you, I work with hospitals in Los Angeles, and they are busy right now with other things, I get it.  I’m an outside sales representative and I feed off others energy.  I love sales and have always been very successful at it.  However, not being able to work with customers, not being able to go to the gym, not being able to visit with my friends was really becoming overwhelming. Yet, there are many people out of work and losing everything. My stress seems out of place compared to others.

So now its August and I still can’t see customers, I can’t go to the gym and I haven’t really spent much time with my friends or family in person. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad at anybody, it’s just the way it is. Initially, I was angry, not with anyone, but mad that my life was being interrupted.Really? While others are losing everything? What I am learning is that the world is changing, and I need to change with it.  As much as I would love the world to stay the way it was, it never will. I don’t know if it will ever be the same again, but I’m hoping that it will be better! I’m optimistic for the future!

“Our attitude determines our altitude” is an expression/quote that I used to say to my kids.  I’ve kind of forgotten it, but it really does make sense.  What you think about yourself and your prospects in life (attitude) dictate your level of success (altitude).  Your attitude is so important to your happiness! Are you choosing to be positive, optimistic and determined, or negative, pessimistic and ready to give up? Things aren’t always going to be the way we want them to, so we need to change our attitude.

For me, I’ve recently discovered a lot about myself.  I’ve really delved into what makes me tick.  What feeds my soul.  I can’t do the same things I did before and that’s okay.  I’m learning to find new ways to help me be active, creative and grateful.

Something I never realized was how much the outdoors meant to me, until I stayed inside for a few weeks at the beginning of the pandemic.  I also didn’t know how much exercise really helped my anxiety. I know now. There were a lot of people that were very keen and immediately went into “time to take care of myself” mode, eating right and exercising and taking up new hobbies.  I was NOT one of them.  I became a recluse.  Maybe because I’ve never been part of a pandemic before!

I researched all the great things to do during a pandemic, and in the first few weeks I thought I was doing well, but soon I went into a funk.  It was a weird funk too. I didn’t think I was doing that bad until one Sunday, my husband and I were going out of our minds and had to get out of the house.  We went for a drive for about 4 or 5 hours and it seemed to help. Just being out, was very therapeutic. 

Eating became an issue, I ate healthy food, I just ate way too much of it!  I felt very nervous and anxious all the time.  I was getting up about every 15 minutes and going to the fridge! It was crazy!   

Trying to work from home, working a sales position, not knowing any of my customers, was and has been a real challenge. I am very engaging and friendly and that’s how I get to know people.  Trying to convey that over the phone is very challenging, when no one has time to talk to you. I’ve discovered that working from home is much more challenging for me.

All this leads me to what I have been doing to help me get through this time.  I’ve had to change my mindset, and I’m learning to be more patient and understanding. I don’t want to get depressed. Something I’ve learned, especially in sales, is that life is constantly changing , and change can be good.

Reading history is honestly my favorite thing to read.  I think about all the wars, the pandemics, the suffering, the holocausts, etc.  I can’t imagine being locked up in a small apartment, terrified, constantly watching my back like Anne Franks family.  My grandfather was in the first World War and my mom has told me stories about my grandmother pulling shrapnel out of his body when he got home. He apparently suffered some severe depression after the war.

My uncles were in World War 2 and I have watched several documentaries depicting the things they had to go through.  I also had a great uncle who died in the Spanish Flu in 1918 helping others, not knowing he was going to get the flu and die. He was 22. 

I tell you this, because my ancestors went through much worse than I ever have. I feel so blessed to never have had to experience such horrors in my lifetime.  So, I guess after really pondering this, I have nothing to complain about, even if my life has been a little uprooted by Covid-19.

So, what are the things I have done to help me during this time?

First off, I started walking, outside.  I have a treadmill, but its not the same as being in the fresh air.  Try and do most of your exercise outdoors if possible. Being outside has really helped me. I spend at least one to two days a month at the ocean too, I need my vitamin SEA!

Go to the store if you feel comfortable. Shopping is actually good for your soul! Lol!  For the record, I am perfectly fine wearing a mask to go the store or anywhere else they require them.  I work in the health care industry and they wear them every day, all day.  Do I like wearing it? No. But I will.  

I stopped watching the News. Enough said.

Next, I found a hobby.  Gardening.  I absolutely love it.  I’ve tried in the past to grow a garden, but I never had any luck.  I guess because I have more time now, I am finally catching on. I also belong to an online Facebook gardening club that is extremely helpful.  If anyone wants to start a garden, reach out to me and I can help you get you started. Its very therapeutic!

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Since the gym is closed, I have been doing more exercise while watching videos.  I watch videos on YouTube as well as yoga routines. I also have been dancing while I sit on conference calls! Its quite the sight! I just get up and move.  I figure its better than sitting for 1-2 hours. Right?

Eat the right foods.  This is a good time to really invest in your health.  There are foods that can help the way you are feeling right now.  Nutrients like vitamins and minerals are so important to fighting off disease and building your immunity.  I wrote a little book called “Feeding the Change”. It discusses foods that are important to keeping your symptoms of menopause at bay.  For example: eating watermelon can help with your headaches!  

Another thing I’ve been doing is getting chores done around the house.  There is such a great feeling of accomplishment when you lay down at night and know that something you did today made you feel better.  It could be something as simple as cleaning out a drawer.  Clutter in the house can cause stress in your brain.  It does for me anyway! I’ve been picking a project every weekend, and I really feel good when it’s done.

I’ve also been watching a lot more movies and/or series on TV. Now that its summer, I try to get my chores done on the weekends in the morning, and lay on the couch watching TV in the afternoon when its hot outside. Its been in the 100’s for the last couple weeks. I’ve discovered a lot of good shows by doing this!

My mom lives in a retirement home and I’ve even discovered a creative way to see her. (Her retirement home doesn’t allow visitors for obvious reasons, plus, she is high risk).   She has benches outside her back door, so we sit on opposite benches with our masks on.  We get to talk and visit in the shade and it feels good for both of us. It keeps us connected.

I did a lot of Zoom calling in the beginning, but I think because I’m on that platform so much for work, I’ve slowed down on it. I still do Facetime occasionally.

My hope is that you are starting to feel or already feeling optimistic during this pandemic, and hopefully some of my suggestions might help you get out of a funk, if you are in one. 

Current events can be hard for us, just remember…attitude is everything! Change can be good. Open your mind, and accept the change.

Be kind to yourself,

Diana