New Work-at-Home-Life: The Main Thing Getting Me Through + A project for you

Social Distancing on a neighborhood walk on Over 50 Feeling 40

Friday…Yes!  For anyone who believes our new work-at-home life is relaxed and laid back…think again.  It has been a week of chaos, adjustments, changes, and long hours at my desk. But there is one main thing getting me through and I want to challenge you to develop it with a special project below.

I want to thank each of you for the encouragement you bring to me.  It is a joy to have a conversation with you every day!  You are each one a blessing!

I wanted to be able to write today that I have nailed this transition.  However, it is a work in progress.  The biggest adjustment has been the work projects due at all different hours of the day.  I have no consistent time right now that I can work out and I am feeling it.  I need to get a handle on this.  The gym is shut down, so it has to be here at home.  I have done a little, but I really want to discover how to get back to a consistent time.  I am not overeating…I am too busy for that!  But, I am very legalistic about schedules and this whole experience is teaching me the importance of being flexible…or as my boss says, nimble.  We will see if I do better next week.

 

A Change in Attitude 

Texas Bluebonnets Spring 2020 on Over 50 Feeling 40

I wrote this week that the people who would do best in this current situation are the patient, optimistic, flexible, creative, hopeful and grateful ones.  Out of that list, I believe gratitude is the most important. 

When I took my neighborhood walk on Monday, I was a little grumbly…missing my gym, my treadmill, my gym friends…whine, whine, whine.  So, I decided to do a “grateful” walk on Wednesday.  With an attitude of gratitude, I had a fun and much different experience.

Texas trees spring 2020

This time I smiled and greeted neighbors I have not seen in a long time…I heard birds singing…I saw the bluebonnets (a flower I love so much)….and budding trees.  I felt the springtime breezes.  It was an amazing walk. Sadly, I have been too busy at work to get back out there, but I will again soon.  Walking with gratitude in mind made such a difference that I enjoyed an look forward to again.

It really is amazing how powerful thankfulness is.  We are living during something we have never lived through before and all predictions say it will change our lives for a long, long time.  When I don’t think about that and choose to think about my faith,  all of the wonderful people and opportunities in my life, then my day turns around.   Work is intense right now…but I am so thankful to have work.  My schedule has been upended…but I am thankful to live in a place where I can walk and have a room where I can work out.  My allergies are bothersome…but they are seasonal allergies and not the serious virus gripping our world.  I’ve gone a long stretch without seeing family members other than my husband…but we can Facetime!  There is always something to be thankful for and it truly does make the day brighter and lighter.

Favorite Gratitude Quotes

Roses represent thankfulness on Over 50 Feeling 40 

There are hundreds of quotes about the power of thankfulness.  Here are a few of my favorites:

“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” – Alphonse Karr

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul” – Henry Ward Beecher

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” —Robert Brault

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward

“None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude.  Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.”  – Fred De Witt Van Amburg

Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for. Zig Ziglar

“In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” – Lionel Hampton

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” – Cynthia Ozick

Keep Smiling on Over 50 Feeling 40

So, let’s choose together to end the week finding at least three things we can be grateful for…write them down and smile. During the time of this pandemic, I challenge you to write three things you are most thankful for each day and do it every night, 

Now here is something to be happy about…lots of retailers are running big spring sales.  I have put together a slideshow with only items on sale.  Maybe you will find something fun there.

 

Remember tomorrow is Would You Wear It with me and my friend, Jennifer!  Hope to see you bright and early.   Until then, make sure you…stay home…stay safe…and

Hug with your smile!

KEEP SMILING AND HUGGING

 

By Pamela Lutrell

33 Comments

  1. Grateful for… you with my morning tea, my family is still healthy, I have an outdoor space I get out and breathe in, we have heat and electricity and water and food for now. There is lots more, but now to stay tucked in at home and pray that it will slow down and we will find a cure.

  2. Good morning. I am thankful that I do not work in the medical field and National Guard, like my son in law. I am thankful that my children are staying home with my grands! I am thankful that I am not in a nursing home like dear friends who are so lonely. There is always something to be thankful for. I am happy that you have found it, too.

  3. Gotta have an attitude of gratitude! Oh, I am thankful for a lot; Elohim who is in control of all, a husband who is a mighty prayer warrior, my warm little house, my children who are able to continue to work remotely, facetime, the ability to get outdoors to walk or work in the gardens, bloggers like you, the many, many people who are out to take care of the rest of us, and white hair which requires no color touch-up (ha!).

  4. Thanks for such a thoughtful and uplifting post! I was getting a little down on Wednesday and then due to a terrible accident near my home, poles went down and we lost our internet and TV. I thought I would just about lose my mind. We had no service for 24 hours. Finally, yesterday we got it back. I, then, realized just how fortunate we are. We did not lose our power, have food in the house, had a beautiful day to go for a long walk. It’s so easy to think you have it bad until some other inconvenient thing happens and you realize how good you did have it! So I’m trying to enjoy each day with whatever it brings. We are healthy and so is our family. We will get through this!!! Thanks for all the gratitude quotes! They really help keep me on the right track!
    Have a wonderful day and get out there and listen to the birds sing!
    Linda

  5. Thanks for sharing this Linda…so much wisdom here. I hope to hear the birds sing today!

  6. After my several months in and out of hospitals for a non-life threatening issue, I am grateful to be here! Recovery seems to be very very slow,wish I could go back to what i was before Halloween! But It does seem to be coming.I am grate ful to be here, to be in my lovely home, and have my wonderful husband to fuss at,because he listens and understands! I counted up the weeks I have been home since my last episode-7 so staying in a few more isn’t all that bad! I really like your message today,stay gratefully smiling!(I will try)

  7. There is so much I’m grateful for, it’s hard to pare the list down to three things. My daughter-in-law is an OR nurse who has been temporarily reassigned to a patient floor, and I am thankful that she remains healthy since she is on the “front lines,” so to speak. I am always thankful for my family every single day. I’m thankful that God is in control of every situation, and thankful for His great mercy in my own life, I’m thankful for the parks still being open, thankful to hear the birds singing, thankful that the daffodils will be blooming soon, thankful for my good health to continue my workouts at home, thankful for my church family that is in contact by phone, thankful that I can still GO to church even though it’s online (thankful for technology, sometimes, like this)…I could go on. I’m just thankful. And certainly hopeful that this will end soon! My biggest concern right now is for my daughter-in-law, but I’m trusting God for her safety. Thank you for an uplifting post that caused me to stop and really meditate on all the many blessings I have!

  8. I’m thankful I have my husband and my children and grands all healthy. Thankful I live in a beautiful state with 300 days of sunshine so I can get outside, walk and enjoy birds and wildlife. I’m thankful we have enough food and TP. I’m thankful for my dear friends that I keep in touch with. I’m thankful for bloggers like you, Pam, who keep reminding us to stay positive! Stay healthy and safe and keep posting.🙂

  9. Hello Pamela,
    With the gym closed I have been doing some strength training and my husband and I walk every day. We vary our routes and aim for about 3.5 miles a day. It is something to look forward to and we are sleeping soundly, even sleeping in until close to 9am. I am cooking dinner meals that offer two or three days of leftovers.
    We read, work in the yard and spend more time praying.
    Thank you for your wonderful insights and words of wisdom. Since some of us won’t be going to the salon for our colors, maybe your readers can suggest a good boxed variety that they find works for them.

    Thank you!

  10. Thanks Mary Ann. Check into Madison Reed Hair Color..all natural and beautiful. You would need to order it online.

  11. Susan, it sounds like you have been through such a challenge on your own. I am so glad things are beginning to turn around for you. Stay safe and home and allow the healing to continue. Thanks for sharing.

  12. I hope we all will take this time every day, Karen. In the midst of chaos and fear, it helps so much.

  13. I am so grateful that my husband and I are still working when there are so many who are out of work right now.

    I am grateful that spring is on the way … listening to the birds, seeing plants and trees begin to bud, enjoying the longer days!

    I am taking time each day to thank God for my blessings and to keep my loved ones and friends safe.

  14. Pamela, I love your positive, encouraging posts! Thanks for all you do! Have a blessed weekend!

  15. Try Leslie Sansone’s app “Your Daily Walk”. Perfect exercise for indoors. A different one everyday and easy to do.

  16. Hi Pam, I am thankful for our God who gives me peace and patience all of my days.. I am thankful for my husband, children and grandchildren with our love and respect for each other. I am thankful for you in reminding everyone to be grateful during these days of confinement.

  17. I am grateful that my family is safe & well, that I have a home with all the modern conveniences, & for all the people that are working to keep things up & running.
    My faith has always been important to me, but never more so than now. God is awesome & He will provide.
    Sending out smiles & hugs.

  18. 1. Grateful for my yard that allows me to walk outside & not living in an apartment 2. Grateful for my faith which allows optimism 3. Grateful for technology that allows me to stay in touch with family and friends.

  19. Thanks,Pam. Great reminder to have Graditide.
    So easy to forget how lucky we are ,we have a lovely,warm home,fresh clean water, & people to care for & who care about us.
    I missed my exercise time today! I find the best way to make sure that it is part of my day is to schedule it in to the day.
    I am on a paddling team & we all exercise @ the same time daily using some great utube videos, we are all over 60!
    Enjoyed your blog today

  20. I am late to this party, having worked as a junior high teacher 11 hours today, but I am grateful that my only child, a son, a caring and compassionate surgical/critical care resident physician, and my daughter in law, also a caring and compassionate surgical intern who is 9 weeks pregnant, are healthy and have protective gear. That’s it. It’s enough, today and every day.

  21. Our daughter works for a doctor’s office in town.Her hours were cut to 16 yesterday,but the bill passed yesterday will make her life as a divorced mom MUCH less stressful.
    My garden is waking up,and I can fill my time working off my stress and anxiety outdoors!
    The Tornado watch was just cancelled!

  22. I will lift up a prayer for your daughter right now…glad to her the tornado watch is cancelled. Be well, Kathy.

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