I am covid positive and just starting my 14-day quarantine. What I miss is taking meals with my wife. Now Lucy has to cook the food, carry it on a tray to my room, leave it on my doorstep, then walk away.
After I consume the meal (what a word: consume!), it’s the reverse: I leave the tray at the door; she comes back, picks it up, and leaves.
It’s an eerie routine. I know it is to protect her, but as I looked at today’s meal on the floor, I imagined a guy in solitary confinement, then this prison guard would leave food at the door of his cell, and the prisoner would consume it by his lonesome.
Left at that, it would be tempting to be resentful or depressed… until I see the tray in another way.
This time I have another image in mind. It is room service in a hotel.
It’s the same action: a server leaving food at your door. But what a difference! The “prison food” paradigm tends to give you a sense of helplessness. But reframing it as “room service” leaves you grateful that there is someone who cares enough to make sure you’re well nourished.
What’s my point? You can look at your situation positively or negatively. It’s the same work, the same boss, the same paycheck. But you choose whether to feel you’re in a prison or in a hotel. You choose whether your “food” – your current lot in life – is a curse or a blessing. You choose whether to see your colleagues as enemies or friends.
Perspective. That is one powerful way to survive and thrive as this pandemic still shows no sign of abating, what with omicron and all. We may not be able to do much with our circumstances, but we can control how we respond to those circumstances.
Bon appetit!
P.S. Thank you so much, Lucy!
January 6, 2022
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