Week 7 of “letter to my pre-pandemic self” is written by my friend Linda. Getting together with Linda is always a guarantee of laughter. Linda’s letter shows her serious side, however, and reminds us of some very important things: prioritize work-life balance, setting priorities, and gratitude.
Linda and I met at the gym and since then we’ve spent some (not nearly enough) fun times together, including a couple of amazing NYE. She’s a smart, funny, beautiful soul who has the best stories!
Hey Chick,
As I sit here today and think back to January when we first started hearing about the outbreaks of this virus in China, never in a million years could one imagine what would transpire. In March when Merck told us that we would be working from home, never did I imagine that some 9 months later that I would still be working from home and that over 50 million people in every corner of the world would be affected by this virus. Think of that…ALL corners of the world!!!
I have a few things to say to you that I want you to think about.
- Stop making work your main focus! You need to do a much better job of balancing work and life. It’s going to get a lot more difficult when you start working from home!
- Stop feeling like your self-worth is related to what kind of employee you are and how many hours at work you put in. While a job is important, keep remembering that we work to live and not the other way around!!
- Stop not making the time for your friends as you may have to go a lot longer than you can imagine before you get to spend quality time with them again.
- It’s time that you reassess what’s important to you. The time is now to make some changes as you do a lot of talking about some things you’d like to do; ie. take a pottery course, learn to paint, start running…what are you waiting for??? Do it already or stop talking about it!!!
Gratitude
- Be grateful! Grateful that your dad is not in a senior residence; that he is healthy, lives alone, is resilient and doing just fine!! Be grateful that Peter and Morgan are also happy and healthy and doing their best to keep themselves safe at their respective jobs!! Be grateful that everyone you know, and love are all happy and healthy. Not everyone is as fortunate and can say this.
- Be grateful for the job you have that allows you to work from home, collect a paycheck and continues to emphasize that employee safety is their number one priority.
We have no idea what the new reality will look like and when the numbers may stabilize; but you have a lot to be grateful for and many people in your life who care about you, so don’t get so wrapped up in you that you forget to let them know that they matter as they are going through the same shit as you!
Well said!