How many times have you Googled, “Is being tired a symptom of Covid-19?”

No? Only me? Ok, fine. That may be true, but I’ll admit that when I start to type anything into Google these days, it usually finishes my sentence with ... “symptom of Covid-19?”

So either Google has really gotten to know me and my hypochondria well, or, I’m not alone.

I have decided that most of the things I’ve experienced, while not necessarily a true symptom of Covid-19, they are for sure a symptom of “life as a result of Covid-19.” It’s almost like that is a virus of its own.

We have all had the debate or read the debate of whether The Virus- or the depression and anxiety that has been caused as a result of The Virus is worse.

Honestly, I think that’s a dumb debate to have. I think we’re all smart enough to know that they both SUCK, big time! And obviously that’s putting it very lightly.

I am not a doctor, a scientist, an educator or really any other respectable profession that has the right to make any sort of comments about this virus. So I am definitely not going to do that. Mostly because I have a lot of respect for all of those experts, so I’ll leave that to them.

What I will do, however, is what I always do. Basically, I just comment on my random observations in life. Because sometimes, it helps to know that a non-professional, quirky mom of 2, self employed, yoga pants wearing, awkwardly giggly person is experiencing some of the same “symptoms” as you.

Also, I feel that when I do google these things and I stumble on someone that sounds like I could be friends with her and she, without even knowing me, gives me permission to feel what I’m feeling- it helps, a lot!

So here we go. Here is a list of symptoms you may or may not be experiencing as a result of this world we are living in.

1. “I’m tired all the time!!” Ok, so either you are working from home, home schooling your kids, monitoring your kids while on virtual school, or just keeping track of where and when you have to get your kids to school on the hybrid schedule. Or, maybe you are leaving the house and going to work and having to remember all of the new rules to keep yourself and family safe. No matter which situation describes you- I’m exhausted just writing all of this. So, it’s normal, you are ok and you are doing your best.
   
   
2. “I constantly feel guilty.” Guilty that my kids can’t just be kids. Guilty that there is not enough time to zoom or call or FaceTime everyone that I miss while managing life as it is. Guilty that I ate cookies at 8:30 am. Guilty that my kids ate fast food twice this week. Guilty that I just don’t feel like playing. Guilty that at the end of these days sometimes I don’t even feel like talking to my husband and just want to be alone. Or in contrast to all of this, guilty that sometimes I’m actually ok with not being able to see anyone except my husband and my kids. But as I tell this to myself, I’m telling you... It is normal, you are ok and you are doing your best.
   
   
3. “Mask-ne: (acne of the mask area)” Not too much has to be said about this, besides the fact that it’s a very real thing. You are NOT experiencing teenage acne again, your face is simply gasping for air. So, give yourself permission to have 20 min of “me time”, give yourself a facial, get that fancy face cream and lather up. While you do that, tell yourself, “it’s normal, you are ok and you are doing your best.”
   
   
4. “FOMO” I don’t know about you but “fear of missing out” is something that has always been a part of my life. Starting in my childhood, having to be the last to go to sleep at a sleepover party. Well, Covid-19 has truly brought this one out. But I have realized that everyone is feeling a certain degree of this. We’re scared of missing big life celebrations, scared of missing moments in the lives of people we love, scared of missing moments in our own lives while dealing with all of this new stress. The issue is we are just scared of missing a moment in time, even if we don't know what it is that we are missing. Something that I’ve told myself to help with this fear is that, this IS the moment. We’re not missing memory making experiences, we are making different memories. No, not all good ones, but even the best movies or books have really tough moments. It’s what we get out of those moments that makes the endings so great. So if you are feeling some FOMO, remember, it’s normal, you are ok and you are doing your best.

This list can go on and on of course, but you get the point. ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that you or your friends and family are feeling.....It IS normal, you are OK, and we are ALL just trying our best.

While on the Peloton the other day, the instructor said something that stayed with me. She said, “we don’t climb up the mountain for the world to see, we climb up the mountain so that we can see the world.”

This time in life is certainly a mountain, but it’s putting so many things about our world and life into focus. Despite all of the “symptoms” we are experiencing during the the climb.

We don’t have to prove anything to anyone. What we need to do is to make sure that when we do get to the top, and I truly believe it’s getting close, that we are able to see the world even more clearly than ever before.