This month is about being Present.  Some of us might be wondering how we could possibly be anything, but present considering we have nothing to do and no place to be outside of our work. Some of us may not even have work anymore. With all of this spare time, we might have a tendency to look to the past.  Some of us are looking back at January and wishing we could go back.  Maybe we wish we could do things differently or just relish those moments a little longer.

I would venture to guess that most of us, are worrying about the future.  We are worried about our health, the economy, our families and so many other things that can’t even be summed up in a short essay.  Our worries seem endless.

I get it.  I feel the same.   We are in uncertain times and it can feel like we are carrying the weight of the world.  I’m not here to negate any of that or tell you not to worry.  We are going to worry and we need to manage that stress the best way we can.

In fact, I offered to bring home baked cookies to a friend and said I’d sit in her driveway so we could eat our feelings together.  We need to be there for each other.

What I am saying is that most of us have an opportunity to be home and reflect on where we are right now.  We have an opportunity to make the most of this time.  This doesn’t mean we need to transform our bodies, solve world hunger or become an entrepreneur in 30 days or less.  It just means that we have some extra time to be in this moment.  Don’t waste it.  Play the game.  Read the book.  Sit in the sunshine.  Do something that is just about feeling good in this moment, right now.

It’s time to take a collective breath and relinquish the wishes and worries even for just part of each day.  It’s time to be HERE, in this moment, at this time, with whomever you are quarantining with and make peace with it.

We are the fortunate ones.  We are the ones who aren’t “essential” right now.  If you are working on the front lines of fighting this pandemic, we thank you.

Thank you to everyone working in the medical field, including my daughter and her boyfriend, our first responders, grocery workers, janitors, restaurant workers, warehouse workers, truck drivers, sanitation workers and anyone else I may have forgotten. Thank you for allowing us to stay home while you are out there everyday still working.

So, get outside this week, bake some cookies, run the stairs in your house, paint a wall, do something spontaneous even if it is just calling a friend or walking around the block.  Take time to be here.  If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for all those people who are out there working and wishing they could be home with their families.