Tag: life

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. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to write down a few things you are grateful even when life is hard.

First, my wife. She supports me and helps me through tough times.

Second, my health. Even when something is injured or aching, I’m fairly healthy. I can’t forget that.

Third, I’ve found a hobby that keeps me moving, active, and engaged with kids.

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. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to notice when you feel judgmental and be kind instead.

The pandemic has been hard on all of us, in various ways. However, the one thing I’ve learned is that my view isn’t like other people’s views. We don’t live in the world the same way, and we don’t experience things the same.

I was out and about not too long ago, and in the place I was visiting, they required masks to be worn. That’s a bit of a change from most of my life, as a lot of Colorado allows you to forego a mask if you’re vaccinated. I had to walk back to my car, find a mask, and then go inside.

Easy to be take things the wrong way, but I just went along with the flow. I hate masks, but it’s not that hard to wear one.

In this case, while talking with one of the employees, or maybe owner, he noted that he’d gone through cancer treatment not too long ago and was still worried about his recovery. A valid reason, and perhaps a good one to ask others to wear masks. Not even because of COVID, but because any infection could be problematic.

I could have judged this person and dismissed their concerns, but it was easier to wish them well and comply with the request to wear a mask.

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. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to see something good about something that went wrong.

I was coming home from vacation recently and our flight got delayed and delayed. We went from a 2 hour, to a 3 hour, to a 5 hour delay. Then the flight was moved to the next morning, early at 6am, which meant we needed to find lodging and get up incredibly early.

After quite a few hours in the airport, we grabbed a taxi and went to a hotel. No reasonably priced hotels nearby, so a much longer ride than we wanted, no restaurant at the hotel or anything close, and by the time we arrived, we were only about 8 hours from needing to leave again.

Easy to complain and be upset. It was better to appreciate that I got another night with my wife away from life, and we could afford to deal with the issues, and we’d gotten some food at the airport earlier and had some snacks in bags. We’d seen friends in the airport and had time to chat with them, which hadn’t happened much this past year.

Looking at the positives reduced stress and reminded me that life was good that day, even with a few bumps in the road.

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. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to remember a tough time during the pandemic and how you got through it.

The pandemic seems to be easing for me the last month, so I’m definitely coping better. However, I talk with people around the world, and their experiences often remind me of how life was months ago for me.

One of the tough times I had in the last year was last fall. I friend died from COVID, I got the disease, and Colorado locked down quite a bit more than we had before that. I couldn’t go places, visit people, and even my coaching outlet shut down for awhile. There were some days in the late fall when things felt hopeless. I knew they weren’t, but to me, I was struggling to be positive.

One thing that helped me was talking.

I don’t do that well, or often enough, with those close to me. I especially don’t share my struggles well, but I learned to share more with my wife, and she supported me. I talked with my kids, and a few friends, getting them to remind me of good things, to try and find ways to get me to smile, relax, and find hope.

It worked, and many things got better in life and the world.