Picking out 10 ‘kinda good things’ from our misfortunes

I’VE tried and it’s not been easy – to come up with ten ‘good things’ (the term is used very loosely) – about our current coronavirus predicament.  We are being avalanched with a barrage of rules, regulations, lectures and dire predictions for our future welfare, but in the midst of all the debris, here is my Top 10, of ‘kinda good things’ that I’ve managed to scratch out of Pandemic 2020.

1. Time seems to have slowed down: Maybe it’s the combination of the long evenings; the gates being padlocked on the local watering holes; the swimming pools and gyms being closed, but now there seems to be a three-hour period between 7pm and 10pm, when the night goes on forever. (Oops, careful, a possible slip into negativity). Okay, so November has arrived and the year is nearly out, but now during every long night, I believe that time has slowed down.
2. I have also slowed down: There is of course the physical aspect of all this brought about by too many birthdays, dodgy knees and an occasionally creaking back, but it just seems pointless to be rushing around anymore. We have no holidays to look forward to; no meals to enjoy out; no couple of pints in the local; not even a mass on Saturday evening; and no weekends away. So, time to take it steady, ease off on the car accelerator too, and get more miles to the gallon out of the ‘old diesel’.
3. Not riches, but less overdraft problems: I’m not sure what it says about our overall economic future – that’s a matter for greater minds than mine – but I do notice on a month by month basis, there’s less fret in case the overdraft limit is breached. The reasons are quite obvious – fewer and fewer places to spend my filthy lucre. It’s as close I’ve come to saving in this lifetime but I fear that the trend will only be for the duration of the pandemic.
4. An effort being made to read a bit more: Admittedly so far, it’s been confined to books like ‘Getting Things Done’, ‘The 12 Rules of Life’, ‘Mindfulness’, a faith adventure with Ellen Coyne, and a good stab at a selection of newspapers, but at long last the time seems to be there to sit down and do a little word exploration while at the same trying to break the bedtime habit of scanning through the mobile for all the latest news. Print is best! (I might even get a bonus for that).

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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