Tag: coping

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

Today’s tip is to do something to overcome an obstacle you are facing.

ob·sta·cle /ˈäbstək(ə)l/ – a thing that blocks one’s way or prevents or hinders progress.

I’ve got speaking engagements coming up. Virtual ones, but still, I have to be ready. To be ready, I need to record the sessions. To record them, I need to practice and prep.

I also lost time because I need to get these things done not by the event, but a couple weeks ahead of time. I also have a vacation scheduled.

I took some time and closed down most things to focus on the main obstacle for moving forward: Powerpoint.

The big issue is getting the outline into PPT with some slides and starting a flow. From there, as I practice, I’ll refine the talk and slides and get ready to record.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

Today’s tip is to put down your To-Do list and let yourself be spontaneous.

The weekends are my time to usually get a few things done. A couple weekends ago my wife was gone, so I got up to manage morning chores, including letting baby Phoebe and Saturn out.

Then it was going to the gym to weight lift, then volleyball practice (coaching), then coming home and fixing fence until it got dark.

The next day wasn’t better. Morning yoga, then packing up and driving 2 hour for a scrimmage for 4 hours, then returning home late.

That’s not uncommon for my weekends, with a list of things to do, and moving from thing to thing. Some are for me, some for others, but it’s busy.

I can’t let go of things today, but I was thinking about this a few days ago as I started this post. I was exposed to someone that had someone in their household test positive for COVID-19. Not direct exposure, but this is how things spread rapidly.

• Person 1 exposes person 2
• Person 2 exposes person 3
• Person 3 thinks everything is fine and goes about their day exposing Persons 4-100.

I didn’t think I had it, and it was unlikely, but you never know. Being cautious, I cancelled some things and rather than look at a todo list, I decided to do a few things I rarely do lately. I ordered some takeout (curbside, after all I live in the country), sat on the front porch, ate, played some guitar, read a book, watched some sports, and let a portion of my day just go away, unwinding.

I briefly felt guilty, but decided this was a good choice for a day.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

Today’s tip is to look for reasons to be hopeful even in difficult times.

This has been a difficult year, in many ways. Large ones with the pandemic, the struggles with racism, the difficulty so many people have in even relating to each other. In small ways, with my kids struggling with school, the inability to travel, losing half my coaching season. None of these are really big problems in the grand scheme of life, but they do affect mental health and attitude.

However, there is a lot to look forward to. I am hopeful that testing and vaccines will come at some point. I am not in favor of rushing things, but I do believe lots of smart people are working on the problems and we slowly see progress.

I also see lots of smiles and kindness from local people in my area when I get out to see them. It’s gratifying to remember there are many people that make my community enjoyable.

Slowly I see the world improving in small ways, as we cope with the issues, attitudes change and improve, and we adapt.

I believe we will come back stronger in many ways from this difficult time.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

Today’s tip is to be a realistic optimist. See life as it is, but focus on what’s good.

I think that I’ve lived my life as a realist. Sometimes pessimistic, but more I’m careful and conservative, not looking to take changes. I often see the problems with some approach or decision. My wife is constantly optimistic, so she helps me balance out.

As we go through this pandemic, I am optimistic. I actually think that we will get back to many of the things we love in the next year. Already I’m back to coaching volleyball and my team is competing. No parents, wearing masks, but we’re playing.

I have a couple trips planned, and I saw that no infections in the US were linked to plane flights, so I do think we’ll start traveling more in 2021. I’m working on an event of some sort in Denver, and I’m hopeful that some people will start planning and executing events in 2021 as well.

I think we need to improve testing, and I think we will. Already we’re seeing better tests coming out. I am sure we’ll get a vaccine, though I think that is more likely a summer or later in 2021 timeframe for many of us.

Realistically the world has changed, especially for business and conferences, but we will find ways to move forward.