Are we there yet?

Published in Funeralcare magazine, September 2020

Yes, I know you’ve had enough of COVID-19. But wishing it gone just isn’t working, is it?

“Moving up a Level is not a matter of if, but when.” I’d just finished writing the sentence - sequestered by a two-hour briefing and a weather bomb which wiped out the Sky signal - when a god-awful racket issued from two corners of my motel room. My two mobile phones were in alert. And so, now, was I. Very, very alert.

My life just got a whole lot busier. There are some complications that I really don’t want to have to address right now. There are some that I can’t address right now, as their form is not yet clear. I’m not given to worrying about them, as I can’t see the point in suffering twice. But my new work mantra, “Allow me to find a solution to your problem”, is starting to feel like a taunt. In all probability, I will still be finding solutions to today’s problems when you read this in a month’s time.

Musn’t grizzle. It strikes me that thems that complain the most are often affected the least. And those affected the most are so busy finding solutions that they haven’t the time to complain. I am blessed to have working for me a wonderfully skilled and resilient team. They soldier on tirelessly, and tiredly, problem-solving and getting stuff done. Keeping them motivated and healthy is a shared responsibility – both mine, and theirs.

Our responsibility is to keep up the basic stuff we’ve known since we were five. Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re not well. Cover your mouth/nose when you cough/sneeze. Keep your distance from strangers. It’s also about reinstating or putting new regimes in place, like contact tracing.

When it was first launched, the best thing that could be said about the government’s contact tracing app is that it was free. Today’s version is, thankfully, much improved – in that it now actually works. The NZ COVID Tracer App keeps track of where you’ve been, so that you can be alerted if a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19 has been in the same place at the same time. It does this by scanning QR codes displayed at businesses, retail outlets, and cafes. Data can also be added manually. The app is available on Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

To help those for whom COVID-19 is a source of anxiety, there are several NZ based health and wellbeing apps which deal specifically with the pandemic. Among these, Melon and Mentemia are available on Google Play and the App Store, and web-based Staying on Track is available at https://www.justathought.co.nz/covid19.

If you prefer a more pragmatic approach, do stuff you enjoy.

Doing-Stuff-You-Enjoy is an old-fashioned version of Mindfulness, with fewer rules. Many years ago, people were not expected to be happy all the time, and could be In-A-Bad-Mood for No-Reason-Whatsoever. It was in this long-distant and much stranger era that I read an article entitled “How to Kick Yourself Out of a Bad, Bad, Bad Mood.” I saved it. I must not have been happy all the time back then.

What was so good about this article? It contained the usual self-help suggestions: sleep, exercise, read, shop, walk, laugh. Get a massage, a manicure, a haircut. Move furniture around. But the one that stayed with me was “Plan a Holiday. In detail. Do it even if you can’t go anywhere at present”.

It was that last bit that resonated with me at the time. Money was scarce – a holiday was a pipe dream. But plan it I did. To a budget. Right down to the last red cent. Rather than feel futile, the planning was interesting, exciting, and hopeful. And, it turns out, a little bit magical.

The next day I received payment for a freelance job I’d forgotten I’d done. For the exact amount. Right down to the last red cent.

For now, it is border lockdowns that are restricting our travel. We need not let them restrict our travel plans. Plan to travel. Travel vicariously. Travel hopefully. Travel safely. Above all, enjoy the journey.