Silver lining anybody?

General Pandemic
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In the light of the fact that this thing is going to hit communities that do not have the luxuries we have, like a home to isolate themselves in for instance, because they’re packed in refugee camps like herd animals.
Food scarce, medication and healthcare, nah, people around the world who care, barely.
Maybe we could spend some time counting our blessings :pray:

I will start.

I’m really happy this is happening now and not 50 years ago.
I would be stuck in the house with a bag of marbles, a jump rope, a jigsaw and a board game.
Black and white tv, two channels, no daytime tv.
Programmes started at 6 pm with the news, followed by 5 minutes children tv. At 12 they wished you a good night, played the national anthem and then you got snow.

If I wanted to know more about a certain subject, I would have to go to the library and dig through stacks of books.
The library would now be closed of course.
Apart from the milkman doing his rounds, no home delivery.

We had no phone, landlines came years later. Come to think of it, tv came years later too, so I can scrap that from the list.
I will leave it in, maybe some rich folk had a tv in those days. They might even had a phone.

Instead I’m behind a computer and can communicate with the outside world, no matter how far away that world is.
I have a phone with the same capabilities as a computer.
If I don’t want to leave the house, I can get everything delivered to my doorstep.

I have a roof over my head. Something I’ve never stopped appreciating after years of being homeless.

Central heating, hot and cold running water, a shower.

Oh, I almost forget one of the most important things, the dog and the cats!
I wasn’t allowed pets in my childhood.

What do you have?

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I have a community of the greatest, most generous people around who gave of themselves to help a woman who was stressing about a little electronic cigarette substitute failure.

Thanks again, everyone!!

I have a family who cares enough to check in on me and my little tribe to make sure we are fed and have enough to get by, right now, when things are tough all over.

I have a great husband and a sweet daughter who show me love, everyday, even though we don’t have the money to spend on gifts or expensive meals out at restaurants, every week.

I have the VA who are there for me when I need an extra refill, electronically, because I can’t get to my non-essential appointment for refills.

Now that I think about it, I have a surprising amount of things to be thankful for.

Thanks for this thread. It really made me think about it! :smile:

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That’s why I started it. :grin:
I think it’s a healthy exercise to count your blessings.

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My self imposed stay at home allows me to roam around 20 acres muck around with the kids, the dogs, the horses. The fact that there are very few people around at the best of times (and pretty much no people atm) lets me roam a little further if I have the mind to.

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@Josephine_van_Rijn it amazes me that you are so positive and caring and uplifting. I find myself wondering if I could be the same way after having such a hard life. Going by some of the things you have said in the past and then this post. I hope to be more like you as the days turn into years.

Blessings… I am blessed that I haven’t gotten Covid-19 I almost always get whatever is going around. I have a great family and a roof over my head, clothes on my back and a full stomach. I just received 5 gallons of VG but didn’t budget for PG but that’s ok because I can make my own eliquid now.

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If it weren’t for the creepy crawlers, I would move in with you :laughing:

That’s why I never stop counting my blessings. I know how easily everything that you have can be taken away within a split second.
People take way too many things for granted and are obsessed with what they don’t have and spoil their precious time complaining while they should be rejoicing.

Stay safe my friend and keep counting those blessings :hugs:

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You would be most welcome.

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Yes… it could be much worse. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:
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Silver lining: At least we don’t have some fuqing nut job, dropping bombs on us! :rage:

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I have a friend who’s parents are stuck in the north-east of Syria. They are both diabetic, usually there’s no insuline to be had. Don’t even talk about food, postal services, you name it.

Her mum became really ill end of January.
My friend booked a flight, but there are no direct flights to that part of Syria, you have to fly to Irak and cross the border by car or bus.
Borders were closed because of heavy snowfall.

When they opened again her mum was dead and buried. She hadn’t seen her in years.
Oh, the stories, the misery, we cannot even phantom in our privileged part of the world.

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Imagine the panic and grief for vast numbers of souls throughout India right now - for folks already living on the edge of viability (food/health-wise) now ordered not to move about (at all). We often chuckle when we see (our) compatriots panic-hoarding. Who wouldn’t reasonably seek to do so, in such severe conditions ? The same will be true in numerous other countries that most of us would find impossible to function within. The many refugees in this horrific world were already on the knife edge of existence. Imagine being a child. Imagine being a parent of a child suffering so within such chaos and uncertainty. Humbling and heartbreaking. Makes many (of perhaps, our) petty annoyances and shopping struggles at the “Co-Op” seem vapid and indifferent to anyone but ourselves. We just happened to get a better roll of the dice (this time) - to be born into a relatively small and fortunate portion of the world population. :thinking:

This lockdown is, in keeping with many of this government’s policies, a headline-grabbing initiative announced with little warning, but one that will do little to address the myriad problems India faces in dealing with the coronavirus. It puts responsibility for containing the outbreak on citizens, instead of instituting a robust official support system. It is needlessly punishing for the most vulnerable in society. It does nothing to solve this country’s problems with public health and safety. And everything that is wrong with India’s response flows from that period late last year through the early parts of this year, in which the government set the tone for what is undoubtedly the world’s harshest lockdown with police brutality, a lack of transparency, and a shortage of compassion. … For the poor, work has dried up entirely, and so those migrant workers who could sought to beat the lockdown by heading home in huge numbers. Since the restrictions came into force, buses and trains have stopped ferrying passengers across the country, leaving them to walk, often for days with their families back to their towns and villages.

These (in India) are some of the folks who poison their environments and themselves to try to survive by fabricating the components of our bellicose, jingo-istic, and soul-less pastimes on the cheap for us:

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Source: https://www.toledoblade.com/image/2019/04/12/1140x_a10-7_cTC/MonsterMutt17-jpg.jpg

Nature, silent in its indifference, has a way over time of being an ineluctable equalizer of “privilege”.

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Hence this topic, and I’ve worded it very carefully. :grin:
I didn’t see the point in offending people by really speaking my mind.
It wouldn’t serve any purpose, I only wanted people to take a step back and look at what they still have.
Usually people only realise what they have/had after they lose it.

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Invariably, existence is the great humbler - once looking back towards our “once scripted pasts”.

The Monster Truck Alliance will probably not take so well to my “selectively highlighting rank stupidity”.

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Well, that’s on your head, as long as politics doesn’t rear it’s ugly head in my silver lining, I’m not bothered.
When it does rear it’s ugly head I will summon my good friend @Kinnikinnick to come over with an axe. Heads will roll :axe:

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As severe a state as this spinning, wobbling, rock is in, I shall refrain from discussing all “ists”, “isms”.

Knowledge is a recognition of something absent; it is a salutation, not an embrace.

The truth, my friends, is not eloquent, except unspoken; its vast shadow lends eloquence
to our sparks of thought as they die into it.

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Only the dead have seen the end of the war.

The earth has music for those who listen.

-George Santayana

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I think Ima love your thread @Josephine_van_Rijn… hmmm

My silver lining… all my friends on elr are right here, and I expect more to post up! :stuck_out_tongue:
Bring your own coffee and I get my hammock! :crazy_face:

I am just grateful I can spend more time with my son, I can play with my hobbies, and just ride it out.
It could be worse, I could be in the hospital working. I am a CNA, with 6 months LPN, certified phlebotomist and 6 months Gen business. I’d have to retake all my certs in order to jump back and and for now, just ok doing what I do best. It could be soo much worse.

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Just flag it. :wink: Then, as if by magic… :fire: POOF! :fire: It will disappear.

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Too easy, health, family, and newish house. Love life and try to take things not too seriously. Laugh and smile when you can and turn off the news when ever possible. Have a couple of beverages of choice, adult or not, and just breathe.

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Also books, lots and lots of books. I just increased my library by about 13 books, all about 900 plus pages each. Love it!

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It’s pretty bizarre. Fifth day in “isolation” and things seem pretty surrealistic. I’m watching my subconscious adapting to this new routine. Having dreams of being trapped or stranded somewhere, which makes perfect sense both in the now and the past per traveling for work. I stark juxtaposition, as my wife, two cats and I are eating peanut butter pie and watching TV while finding little to talk about. Hits me like the lyrics “floating on a bubble while the world goes down the drain”. We have what we need and it appears that even being self employed, I will also get assistance. We are not doing without anything. I’m calling friends and relatives more which is a joy and something I should have been doing all along. I’m not doing much at home. I guess it’s all a part of being stunned or adjusting. I could have the cleanest house on the planet right now without rush or push. I’m just not. That needs to change. I’m wasting a lot of time right now which is pretty silly. I feel guilty admitting I’m enjoying the time to just take it easy.

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I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now. I’ve been reflecting on my life’s changes and how I now view the world. I’ve spent a lot of my time on the planet being an A1CAH (A-1 Class A-Hole). Didn’t care about anyone unless I got something out of it. I was pretty good at acting my way through just about anything. I had cool toys, didn’t care about money and relationships were disposable. 18 years ago I began dating someone with a kid and he changed my life. I co-raised him and I saw the value of leaving something behind that mattered. The only problem was there really wasn’t much that mattered to leave behind. What I found out was that there were things I learned from others that I didn’t realize. Compassion, caring, understanding…I just didn’t use it.

Flash forward 18 years and I see my son and how he interacts with the world and I’m proud. He may not be the wisest or most industrious individual, but he is caring, kind and always willing to help. He never asks for anything (except food, he never stops eating!) and will give you the shirt off his back if you need it. In his group of friends, he is the one they come to when they’re troubled and he never admits to having any answers. He gives his thoughts on the matter and lets them figure it out for themselves.

He has more to learn and so do I.

My silver lining during all of this is having him around to experience this with. It’s brought us together even more as our lives are changing at a rapid pace with no experience to lean on. I’m sure he doesn’t see it the same way I do but I’m also sure he has his own view and his own depths within that view that we’ll discuss and learn from.
I know that we both care about others. We care about countries we know nothing about. We care about our neighbors, family and friends. We know that when this is over, and regardless of it’s horrific potential, we feel that the opportunity for greater understanding to be better, exists. It sounds very basic I’m sure, but none of this existed 20 years ago.

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