How You Doin'?

So, it's the last day of November. The final month of 2020 starts tomorrow. And for a year that seems to have taken forever to get through, I'm sure December will go quickly.

Except during the last week or so, when so many people celebrate the holidays with family and friends, only that this year, it won't be that way.

Or shouldn't.

The greatest gift for this Christmas would be that everybody stays home and makes a solid effort to beat back the pandemic.

Many of us have been saying, aloud and to ourselves, that we can't wait for 2020 to be over, as if, by magic, January 1, 2021 will usher in a change, that things will suddenly get better.

It won't.

So, as we move into what is arguably the biggest holiday season of the year, we should pause and take a mental check on ourselves, to see how we're doing, emotionally.

A week or so ago, I saw a chart that was shared on social media. The person who posted it asked how we were feeling. The chart has four columns, each with a list of symptoms that determine your overall level of mental health.

For me, I find that I have symptoms from all of the columns. From the green column, I find that for the most part, I can adjust my plans based on information that I receive and that I can communicate fairly effectively.

But I find that my performance can be inconsistent because I'm always feeling tired and unfocused. Things that I typically love to do seem to be a chore, and I take less pleasure in doing them. My sleep is restless and I'm waking up several times throughout the night. I'm irritated easily, and when I see people flout laws and rules (especially those meant to reduce the spread of COVID), I can become enraged.

I think I have as many symptoms in the red column as I do in the green, but many of my symptoms are in the yellow and orange columns.

So, how am I doing? I am thriving in my ability to stay home, to continue writing, and to being with my immediate family. But my mental health is taking a beating because I'm sleeping badly, which is causing me to become irritated and to lose interest in doing some of the things I love. I lose focus, and I can become a nasty SOB when I'm in public.

I'm surviving (the trials and tribulations of this meagre existence) but I'm struggling.

How about you? How are you doing?

I hope that the last month of 2020 is good to you, that you find the time to get some rest and relaxation. But I think that the only way that we're all going to survive 2021 is to take the pandemic seriously and do our best to collectively cut the spread of the disease.

Because at the end of 2020, we may be tired of this virus but this virus isn't tired of us.

Take care.