Silver linings: Tea/coffee Date April 2020

April 3, 2020April 2, 2020 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 1 Comment

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Mr. Judy and the dogs are once again front and center if we were getting together over a hot beverage. Aren’t they always?

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Pull up a chair and mug with Coco and Deborah and me for the ultimate ~~coffee~~ tea date: can we talk? Especially about the damn menopot!

**Hard to believe this was just 3 years ago**

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I would tell you I called my mom on my Dad’s birthday last week. He would have been 94. I didn’t mention it . . . and neither did she. She’s a pretty stoic person in general, although during the months of his decline she was a nervous wreck. Now she’s had time to decompress (now she has too much alone time though!).

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you that one of the things that has changed for me is the way I food shop. I was used to going several times a week, never getting more than I can carry in one load — and always using reusable bags.

Now I try to limit it to once a week, which makes the fresh veggies harder to keep stocked, but of course limits my exposure. The irony is that after enforcing a no plastic bag law (fine by me), now they’re saying don’t use reuseable bags. Some stores. Some are okay with it as long as you pack it yourself — fine by me, I actually prefer to pack my own bag, but at the smaller grocery stores they actually make that difficult.

I took cleaning spray to the store and sprayed the bags before I actually left, then again after I unpacked them. I know, I know, I should have been doing that all along.

**At least last week I could use these, haven’t been to the store yet this week**

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you that so far I’ve mostly been able to find what I needed. I’d also tell you that I don’t think I’m hoarding, but I have actually been spending more at the food store (I saw a news story that the grocery stores have seen a surge in sales!).

I am buying some things just in case I am unable to find them next time I shop. Although my freezer is now full to bursting, so I guess we’re good!

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I have noticed more runners pretty much everywhere I went in the last couple of weeks. It’s obvious that some of these are relatively new runners. Good coming from bad — there’s always that silver lining!

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I notice what I call the 9/11 effect. We went to NYC after 9/11, after a long absence from the city because Mr. Judy isn’t fond of it and we lived in TX at the time. It was a 40th birthday present to me, so about 6ish months afterward (we didn’t go right on my birthday — NYC in the middle of Winter is not for the faint of heart!).

Even Mr. Judy enjoyed the trip. He noticed that everyone was more courteous, more friendly, just in general nicer. I have noticed people being much nicer after COVID19 really hit.

Are you noticing any difference in people, if you’re out there walking or running?

Are you afraid to grocery shop? I’m not really, but Mr. Judy is beginning to freak out about it.

Can you think of any silver linings lately?

I am also linking up with the Fridays with Fairytales and Fitness from Fairytales & Fitness.

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ICYMI: I took advantage of the one nice day this week to film outside; I talk about Karma vs Dharma here. I’m also going live on Facebook at 4 pm ET hereto share a short-er preview of next week’s longer Yin Yoga video (which was also filmed outside — feels so much better out there!).

I can’t really interact with you while I’m doing the live video, but you can like it and/or comment and I’ll get back to you later! Maybe there will be a new meditation this weekend . . .

Be the first to know when I release new videos: sign up for my newsletter here to find out when I add new videos, and you’ll receive a free Self Love Affirmation PDF and a bonus audio-only version of this self love meditation.

Stronger than the Fear: March 2020

March 31, 2020March 30, 2020 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 27 Comments

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March was a doozy, wasn’t it? It didn’t start out well for me, not feeling well. I get a non specific virus like this often in Spring (relatively sure it wasn’t COVID19 but we’ll never know). I rest, I get better, then out of the blue I feel a little worse, and back and forth for weeks.

I was a little disappointed because I’d really tried hard to clean up my nutrition. For the record, I was never very sick. Maybe that’s the clue — while I still got sick, it was extremely mild. Maybe due to making an effort to eat healthier because I know that this time of year I’m always vulnerable.

Truthfully, if my family and loved ones come through this okay, if we have a roof over our head (and four walls, please!), and enough to eat, missing some racing is a small price to pay.

These lyrics from Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” (which I’ve always loved) seem very appropriate to the times:

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone

Especially the part about not being lonely when I’m alone. I know that a lot of people are really struggling with the lack of social connectedness right now, and I am sorry for the many that #thestruggleisreal.

It doesn’t mean that I love doing everything alone — no. It’s just that I’m okay being on my own. I’ve had a lot of practice, having lived far away from relatives for many decades (until now, although still far away from my brother and my MIL), and also spent a lot of time separated from Mr. Judy over the decades due to his work.

I think it’s a good thing to be comfortable with being by yourself; not trying to be preachy here, just that it’s a good life skill no matter what’s going on in the world.

**Running all the hills right now anyway**

Getting in scheduled runs
Except for the one week I was sick, I kept up with running 3 x week. Missed one long run. Didn’t really matter as I ended up not being in training mode anyway.

Grade Earned: A

Recording my runs
Again I got spotty with recording my runs. I’ve been working on a big project for my YouTube Channel (which you can visit here), and it’s kept me very busy. Then there was that pesky COVID19 thing.

Grade Earned: B-

Dynamic Warmup
It’s (mostly) getting warmer, so I’ve been doing well with my dynamic warmup — as I wait for my Garmin to find a signal.

Grade Earned: A

**Getting back into more frequent foam rolling. Does a body good.**

Foam Rolling
I have actually been doing well with foam rolling, too. Even occasionally foam rolling on days I don’t run. My long run on Friday was physically very tough, and my hamstrings were complaining. I did yoga, I did a long foam rolling session, and I was very surprised (and happy) to wake up feeling okay the next day.

Grade Earned: A

**The hardest part about delivery is finding healthy options. This wasn’t so much healthy, but it was yummy!**

Nutrition
My weight is hanging steady (even if it’s a few pounds over where I’d like it to be). I really have to stop doing my long runs at lunch time, though! By the time I get home, even with a post run snack, I’ve got a serious case of the rungries. It isn’t pretty.

Grade Earned: A-

Support

Massage? Nope. We all know why.
Chiropractor Appointment? See massage.
Do I need a hair appointment? Again, see above. It’s probably going to be a while. It’s been about 6 weeks since my last cut — even though that’s the “correct” amount of time for me for a cut, I very rarely get it done that often. Sometimes I go months. And I do like to grow it out a bit in the summer to braid it.

Grade Earned: B

Cross Training
I’ve been riding the stationary bike fairly regularly. I was getting back into some strength training too, though somehow I fell off of it the last week of March. I’ve done a little pilates here and there. So hard to squeeze it all in!

Grade Earned: A-

March 2020 gets . . .
. . . an A-. There’s always room for improvement, but March, despite the craziness, went pretty well.

March Goals:

Strength train 2 – 3x week. Y. I’m going to say I met this goal — when I felt healthy. I felt meh off & on in March, so I rested when I needed to.
Continue running 3 x week and maintaining my base. Y. Again goal met when I was feeling good. I only had one week with just one run, and only one missed long run.
Begin to write half marathon plans. N. No reason to yet.
Start practicing at the Yoga Studio that’s close to me. N. For obvious reasons that didn’t happen..
Foam roll when I’m able. Y. High five for doing it pre-run and some non-running days too.
Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. Y. Weight is staying pretty stable, but it’s on the high end. I wouldn’t say I’m overindulging in sweets, but I would say there have been more than I need (or burn off). Need to get a handle on that; clothes are just a tiny bit snugger.
Meal plan on the weekends! Y. Not only did I meal plan, I even began to meal prep too. Until COVID19 hit . . . then simple grocery shopping sucked up a lot more time than usual.
Maybe a shorter race? N. Again, not my fault. I had actually planned to try for a new-to-me race; it was not to be.

Which leads me to April Goals:

Strength train 2 – 3x week. I’m really shooting for those 3 x week, even if one session is just 10 minutes.
Continue running 3 x week, adding in more mileage. I’ve slowly been adding distance to my runs, both the long runs and the midweek runs.
Plan out long runs (in case I run the June half). I like to look at the race date, and work backwards from there. Even for the June half, it’s time — starting early gives me that wiggle room.
Release my 21 Days of Yoga Challenge! Um, maybe. Depends on what happens in life. I’ve been thrown some curve balls with this, again, but we’re getting closer to it.
Foam roll when I’m able. Would love to foam roll at least occasionally on days that I don’t run.
Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. Although I’d love to drop just a little weight, I’m still maintaining fairly well.
Carve out a time to read non-fiction daily. I read fiction (for the most part) before I go to sleep. I have a lot of nonfiction books waiting for me. Something always seems to get in the way of setting a regular time during the day to just read. Maybe the first step is to decide how long I will give myself.

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Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner

This week I am also joining up with Running on Happy, Suzlyfe, Crazy Running Girl, and Coach Debbie Runs each week for the Coaches’ Corner linkup

This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.

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Business as usual: 3/23-29 WRD

March 29, 2020March 29, 2020 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 44 Comments

Sort of. Ok, obviously it’s not completely normal, but in general things are going along okay so far here. I hope that it is with you guys, too. We adjust and we just pray and have to have faith that we will get through this.

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Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and sharing more doggy cuteness, because why not?

Workouts update

Monday: Dogwalk, SB 20 min
Tuesday: Dogwalk, SB 10 min, 4 miles easy, Yoga (30 min)
Wednesday: Dogwalk, Yoga (30 min)
Thursday: Dogwalk, SB (15 min), Yoga (30 min)
Friday: 8 mile LSD, Yoga (30 min)
Saturday: Dogwalk, FB Live Yoga (35 min)
Sunday: 4 miles easy, no doubt some Yoga later

Mileage: 15 (+3)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Update

Snow in Spring? Now that actually is normal

Tuesday
I’m trying to remember this run, I truly am. I think it was a decent run. Obviously nothing memorable. The only thing memorable was the 6″ of snow the day before, of course, but that’s the nice thing about Spring snow: it melts quickly.

**There was lots of walking coming up this hill**

Friday
Initially Saturday looked like the better day, but my body didn’t want to run Thursday, Sunday looked to be a washout, so Friday it was for my long run. Turned out it was a beautiful day. The run was hard, because I chose a very hilly path.

I got further on this particular path than I have before, and there’s one really steep hill then lots of rolling hills. I discovered there’s also an insanely steep hill further on after the really steep hill, LOL! There was a lot of walking, it was slow, but I finished. Too soon, as it turns out . . . I could easily have made it a 9 mile run but I just had a very long cool down walk.

Sunday
The radar showed a potential break in the rain, but good thing I had mentally prepared myself to get wet, because I did. At least I didn’t get poured on. 4 miles to burn off a frustrating morning.

**Trying to keep local restaurants afloat & trying new ones, too**

Favorites of the week
We’re still going around the world with delivered food. This week it was Greek, and it was yummy: mine was Spanokopita appetizers and a Vegan Gyro. Both were yummy. I do kind of feel divided, worrying a bit that maybe we’re putting ourselves at risk. We get the food out of the packaging, wash our hands, then spritz the counter with cleaner. After all, I’m still grocery shopping too (although not as often).

**It was cold out there yesterday — I feel for those swimsuit models!**

I really needed a good head shot for a project I’ve been working on for my YouTube channel (you can check it out here, of course) and although we’ve tried a few times, we just weren’t successful . . . until yesterday. We got quite a few good ones. This is not one I’m using, unfortunately Lola came out blurry. Hadn’t planned to have the dogs in there but they wanted to participate. 🙂

Are you doing all the cooking?

Are you afraid of going live on Facebook? I know I’ve been resisting it!

#teamtraining or #teammaintenance? For now I am still training, at least until I find out if the half end of June is a go or not. If it’s cancelled, I’ll be back to maintenance.

Coming up on Tuesday: I’m wrapping up March. I am hoping to get out another Yin Video and Mediation video next week, but not quite sure how that will go yet.

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ICYMI: I’ve got a new grounding meditation for you here. I went live on Facebook yesterday –you can catch the replay here. You wanted Yin? You got it! If you do like these meditations, please press the like button — it helps me continue to bring everyone free videos.

Running Down a New Normal: Runfessions March 2020

March 27, 2020March 26, 2020 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 29 Comments

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March most definitely did not go out like a lamb. As you can tell, I try to work on my Runfessions throughout the month, and I’d written most of this post before all the craziness really started.

It’s a great time to focus on the things that are good in our life, and these linkups are one of those things! I mean seriously, who would even read this blog without the linkups?

I would tell you . . .
I was rather relieved when it became difficult to visit my mom on her birthday. As much as I wanted to be there for her, I was still getting over something and I was teaching Yoga that morning.

I hated the fact that I couldn’t be there, but I’d struggled with whether or not I should be — I’d been sick, not very sick, but was it the right decision to go where there’s a large number of elderly people?

Update: Obviously now I know it was absolutely the right decision.

I runfess . . .
I was really interested in a Yin Yoga training locally this month. Unfortunately it fell as I was just getting back into running after being sick, and it was 2 full days on the weekend. I’d already missed a long run the week previously. It was forecast to rain the Friday before, and I didn’t feel recovered enough to do a long run in a chilly rain.

Update: that studio is closed, but they are livestreaming classes. The reason I wanted to take the course was to have an in person teaching, though, since my training was online.

I runfess . . .
I was getting pretty excited about going to DE for the half next month. I was researching things to do, we’d made our hotel reservation.

Update: cancelled. I contacted the hotel we made the reservation at on their Website, but I haven’t heard back, so I guess I better call them. I never did call them, but they finally called me to tell me they’d be closing. Hello, check your Website occasionally. Well, I’ll give them a pass considering what’s going on.

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I runfess . . .
I have not had a massage in quite a few months. I didn’t get my usual birthday massage. I was, however, rewarded for my ongoing decluttering in my spare room — I came across a Spa Finder gift card for $50! That’s about the size of a tip for a massage (kidding, but not too far off the truth). I was so excited!

Update: Even though I’m fairly certain I didn’t have COVID-19, I’ve been practicing as much social distancing as possible just in case. Which means no massage right now. 😦 Of course the further update is they’re not open.

I would tell you . . .
I bought two new-to-me Brooks running shoes. The first time I wore the they were incredibly comfortable! Yet the next day the sole of my foot felt funny. Not painful, just kind of stretched and achy. I’d bought these shoes because my easy run shoes were about a year old with a lot of miles on them and I didn’t want to experience Plantar Fasciitis. WTF?

It remained that way several days, but eventually felt fine. In that time it occurred to me that I’d gone back to using my Shinttek (you can buy it here and read my review here) after a long hiatus, and that might be the culprit. Sure enough, after my next run, my feet felt fine. Whew!

Update: I’ve continued to run in the shoes and my feet feel completely normal. Thank goodness because I really like them!

Are you turning your thoughts to Fall now?

Any virtual races you’re excited about (not my cup of tea)?

Do you have more running shoes than you really need now that there are no races?

What do you have to runfess from March? Come join us

ICYMI: I’m going back to basics today on the YouTube Channel here. I’m sharing tips to better planking. I hope to have another meditation out this weekend, and yet another next week! If you do like these meditations, please press the like button — it helps me continue to bring everyone free videos.

I am also linking up with:

Fairytales and Fitness

So You Can Only Work Out at Home

March 24, 2020March 23, 2020 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 30 Comments

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I know so many of you rely heavily on gyms. It may be the social aspect, it may be the competition, it may be the equipment, it may simply be the variety. Most of us can’t go to the gym right now. I have belonged to gyms on and off, but hadn’t been a member of one for a while. Fitness pros are taking to the Internet in droves! There are so many ways to work out on the cheap at home right now (and many are free!).

Today I’m simply sharing a few resources for working out online:

My YouTube Channel here (gotta toot my own horn, although I’m sure you’re kinda tired of that by now)
Pahla B Fitness here. Her workouts are fun, hard, and plentiful!
AMR Stride Through Social Distancing here, 3/23-4/26 for $10 — get ready for racing again — yes, we will race again! — for only $10.
ZOOMA Fitter Stronger Faster Challenge here. A 6 week challenge to get you stronger to run faster. It’s totally free if you don’t want swag, and it’s reasonably priced if you do want the swag. Tough decision!
No Meat Athlete has a free 30 Day Fitness Challenge here. Free 15 minute workouts daily!
Final Surge Free Virtual 5k. More info here.
Merrymaker Sisters are offering their membership for free until April 1 (no credit card required) here. Pilates, Yoga, Meditation. They’re Aussies, so the accents are fun, too.
Lauren Roxbourgh’s Immunity Boosting Movement Medicine here (also no credit card required). Yoga, foam rolling, meditation.
Skirt Sports Women Who Move FB group here. Live workouts and inspiration to get moving.
OrangeTheoryFitness daily workouts on YouTube here. Thanks, Kim @ Kookyrunner!
Danette May offers some free workouts on her blog here. HIIT, Yoga, Fusion.
Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner’s list of a year’s worth of challenges here(seriously, Deborah, how did you know we’d need this?).
Debbie @ Debruns cross training and bootcamp workouts here.

**Almost four years later — still using it!**

What’s in my gym
I thought I’d share what’s in my home gym:

Treadmill
Stationary Bike
Free Weights
Kettlebells
Resistance Bands
Yoga Wheel
Yoga Mat
Yoga Blocks
Yoga Strap (Resistance Bands work just fine, too)
Foam Rollers

You can get great workouts with nothing at all — just your own body! At the minimum I’d suggest some resistance bands and weights. I still love my FitDesk (Amazon Affiliate link here and review here), especially that it doesn’t require any electricity and can be fairly easily moved around. No power? No problem!

What resources can you add?

What’s in your home gym?

Are you still exercising outside? As long as I can, I will!

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Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner

This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.

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Life hasn’t changed too much: 3/16-22 WRD

March 22, 2020 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 46 Comments

Yet. After a lot of back and forth (I’d feel perfectly fine, then not great — never terrible, by any means), I do believe I turned the corner — finally! this week, and feel 100%. Or maybe 95%? My life hasn’t changed that much. Not yet, anyway. Of course there are changes, but in general, being an introvert and a homebody has served me well.

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Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and sharing more doggy cuteness, because why not?

Workouts update

Monday: Dogwalk
Tuesday: Dogwalk, Yoga (30 min)
Wednesday: 4 miles easy, Dogwalk, Yoga (30 min)
Thursday: Dogwalk, Pilates (15 min), Yoga (30 min)
Friday: 4 miles easy, Dogwalk, Yoga (30 min)
Saturday: Dogwalk, PB Walking + Toning, Yoga (40 min)
Sunday: 7 miles easy, no doubt some Yoga later

Mileage: 15 (+3)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Update

Sorry for the graininess, didn’t want to disturb them too much

Wednesday
I figure as long as I’m able to get out for a run, I will try — there could come a day when we’re not supposed to at all, as I’ve read has happened in some places in Europe. We had walked the dogs at the trail by the river on Monday, so I made plans to come back and run there. It’s a very short, packed dirt with a little crushed gravel trail.

It was a beautiful day, perfect for running, and I enjoyed this run greatly. There were feathers on the trail that looked like eagle feathers. I’ve never seen an eagle there, but I’m sure they are probably around. A little further down, though, I almost literally ran into 4 chickens. This would not have been at all odd when I lived in Austin, but this is something I’ve never run into before here.

They definitely didn’t look wild. I’ve always wanted to have chickens . . . anyway, as I continued on pondering whether or not I should call animal control or grab one on the way back, by the time I got back to that point on the trail they’d vanished. You just never know what you’ll see when you #optoutside!

**I may have been rained on, but I enjoyed this run**

Friday
Today I had to try to outrun the rain. Spoiler alert: I didn’t. It was a warmer day, but my run was in the morning and it was only in the 50s with wind — and yes, light rain. It was still a good run!

Sunday
I headed up to a path I haven’t been to since last year. I guess I’d forgotten it was mostly uphill the way out . . . but of course that means mostly downhill on the way back. Path angels were busy with postive chalk art messages & I loved them!

I didn’t notice this leprechaun in the opening of a tree, but some walkers did and I asked them what they were oohing & aahing over. Of course I waited until they had moved on to take my photo.

**Palak Paneer & Potato Cauliflower Fritters (Aloo something?)**

Favorites of the week
You can still get delivery/take out from restaurants. I have always made about 90% of my own food — that includes way back when I worked outside of the home — but I like a break once in a while. This week it was Indian food, last week it was Chinese, I guess we’re doing a virtual world tour. I was surprised the Palak Paneer was in a cream sauce, I haven’t had it that way before. It was very good — no doubt pretty fattening too!

Part of the protein bar, a little bit of the scone, and some of my mom’s birthday cheesecake (remember, her birthday was the 10th!) just may have been lunch. Don’t judge. The brownie will probably get frozen. I don’t think I need all that and the cheesecake. Not for 7 miles.

I called my order in, and then I didn’t have to wait online. It was ready & waiting for me when I got there. Easy peasy.

**I lured him with a protein bar I was eating, then didn’t share. Bad Mommy.**

**Finally found a relatively cheap quilt at Target. We’d been using an old sheet, and that was beginning to tear. So far Lola hasn’t decided to eat it. That tail, though!**

Are you having to learn new skills now?

Are you working from home?

How are you destressing?

Coming up on Tuesday: I’m gathering up some of the many low cost and free resources that are being offered. Seriously, there are just so many things you can do to keep fit at home!

ICYMI: I uploadeed this meditation to help you reduce anxiety here. I’m working on more meditations. I have a lot of ideas and a couple already sketched out! If you do like these meditations, please press the like button — it helps me continue to bring everyone free videos.

We are lucky

March 20, 2020March 19, 2020 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 27 Comments

You probably don’t feel so lucky right now — or maybe you do. I must say, now is a great time to be an introvert. Who knew it’s the introverts who can more easily weather a pandemic? We like to be at home. We like to be with just a small tribe. Sometimes we really like to be alone, too.

Now I want you to close your eyes and imagine if this had happened 20 years ago. Heck, it probably did. I mean, there was 9/11 after all. There was Y2K, too. Yes, we survived those and many other tragedies and most of us will survive this one, too. Today we have so many more tools that can help us to weather this storm.

Fairytales and Fitness

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We are so connected
Being connected isn’t always such a good thing (not if you’re glued to your phone while walking), but in this case, it is. We can Facetime. We can text. We can follow each other on Social Media. In times like these, that’s a good thing.

I tried so hard to teach my mom how to use a smart phone, but unfortunately she wasn’t really interested and she has a pretty severe hand palsy that made it difficult so she gave up. Yes, I tried to teach her how to use the microphone. I can and do stay in touch with her by phone!

We can get so much information — so fast
I definitely don’t suggest that you stay glued to the news 24/7 — it’s a really bad idea. Always check out any information you do glean online, too, there’s lots of misinformation out there.

We live in a time, though, that makes it so easy to get information out to most people. We are lucky!

We have entertainment at our fingertips — 24/7
I remember what a big deal MTV was when it first premiered. I couldn’t watch it, as my parents didn’t have cable TV. Back then, though, there wasn’t much on after a certain time. That’s why MTV was so ground breaking. Now we have almost first run movies and more TV series than we could watch in a lifetime due to cable, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and more.

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Most of us have hundreds (at least!) of books at our fingertips
When I was growing up, I reread the same few books over and over again. I knew them inside and out. I don’t get to know books like that anymore, which is kind of sad, but the reason — there are just so many books available to us — is good!

Audiobooks, too, which are perfect while driving (most of us will probably be spending much less time in our cars in the days ahead) — or while running.

Virtual friends
You can’t catch COVID-19 through your computer screen, thank goodness (although maybe from your computer screen if you touch it!). It’s so nice to check in with you all through the linkups, hear your news, get tips on how to stay sane in troubling times.

Online Games
I’m not really a gamer, about all I know about online games is Words with Friends. No, I don’t play it — maybe it’s a good time to start, although I’m actually not great with Scrabble, which is weird, I have a good vocabulary. Games in real life with your family is a great idea right now, too.

Keep the ones that aren’t so lucky in your prayers & heart
Not everyone lives in a first world country, with easy access to clean water and medical care. Realize how very lucky we are, and pray for the ones that won’t be that lucky.

These are tough times, with the toughest thing being the uncertainty. There is always a silver lining, if you look hard enough for it. I actually think that we’ve been given an opportunity here — to evaluate our lives, the “busyness” of our lives, and whether or not that serves us. Now is the time to think about what is truly important to you. I hope that you can use this time to make positive changes in your life. For those that are afflicted, I pray that you get the care you need and come through this and back to health. — Chocolaterunsjudy

What are you doing to stay calm?

Any online or regular games you recommend?

Are you practicing a little more self care right now?

ICYMI: I know that most of us are anxious and on edge right now. Being on high alert all the time is actually really damaging to our immune system. I created this meditation to help you reduce anxiety here. In fact, I had so much material that I plan to create a another guided meditation to reduce anxiety soon — stay tuned!

I’m also working on one for irritability, because with all the close quarters and disruption to our lives, tempers are likely to flare. If you do like these meditations, please press the like button — it helps me continue to bring everyone free videos.