One Year After Lockdown

My Reflection:

February 2020 - I started researching more and more about the "Coronavirus" and "Covid-19". I was hearing news reports and it started sounding like the virus was no longer contained just to China.

March 12th, 2020 - I wrote the below caption for my past IG account, and while I remain optimistic for how things will change in 2021 I also want to caution us on spending beyond our means. I can feel the collective overwhelming urge to move our routines back to where they were pre-pandemic. But here’s the thing, if we don’t get our finances in check today, we’re going to be right back in debt tomorrow. So, take it one step at time trying your best to not add too many layers of busyness all at once.

"When we say things like: 'People don't change.' It drives scientists crazy because change is literally the only constant in all of science. Energy. Matter. It's always changing. Morphing. Merging. Growing. Dying. It's the way people try not to change that's unnatural. The way we cling to what things were instead of letting them be what they are. The way we cling to old memories instead of forming new ones. The way we insist on believing despite every scientific indication that anything in this lifetime is permanent. Change is constant. How we experience change, that's up to us. It can feel like death. Or, it can feel like a second chance at life. If we open our fingers, loosen our grips, go with it. It can feel like pure adrenaline. Like at any moment we can have another chance at life. Like at any moment we can be born all over again." (Grey's Anatomy S7E1)

Change. It really can be a scary word for some. However, and as the quote argues, we can always rely on change being the most constant thing in our lives.

I was rationalizing why it is important to account for change the other day. It might not seem like first nature to us. I think we feel comfort in what is known. We see ourselves as being constant, and maybe there is something to that. It is hard to always be moving and changing and keeping up with those changes. Routine feels more comfortable, and seems to be in our first nature. So going against what is routine feels abnormal to us.

Sometimes when we put together our budgets we do not think about how change is a constant. We do not know the direction this virus is going to take, but what we can count on is that change is constant.

During this time, let's use it as an opportunity. Let's make a commitment to ourselves to budget for times of emergency. Let's start today. Whatever the stock market decides to do, whatever the oil prices decide to do, whatever the government decides to do - let's count on change as being the most constant of them all. And let's counter that change with the power we find within ourselves to enact on getting and staying prepared and ready at all times, including our budgets.

March 13th, 2020 - I was looking up "things to do in quarantine." I, too, thought it would last *maybe* up to May 2020. And also like many of you, I was wrong.

March 19, 2020 - The State of California issues a Stay At Home Order, and one year later here we remain.

March 19, 2021 - Most Americans have now received their 3rd stimulus check. I saw a study that said almost 50% of Americans will use this stimulus check on food. But, if most people are like me, the urge to spend the stimulus money upon receiving it is STRONG. I'm going to challenge myself to create a budget specifically for the stimulus check. Here’s how that will look: 50% will go to savings, 25% will go to eating out, and 25% will go towards monthly bills. This will help relieve some areas of my finances so that I can reach other financial goals that I have.

I know we all had to learn a lot of new skills. So, here are a few things I'm grateful for that were born out of quarantine: