I'm afraid of the future

[contel3]

This is something I have been too ashamed of talking to people around me. So I'll get it out here. 

I am so afraid of the future right now. I am worried about finances and work.

Restrictions have been lifted where I am so life is going "back to normal". While I am so happy to be out, I feel guilty about going to work. I feel guilty about meeting friends and family. I worry about infecting people around me. I am also scared of having to go back into quarantine, trapped in a room, with only my thoughts and feelings to keep me company.

I am scared about staying single for years due to this pandemic. About not being able to date and feeling lonely.

I am scared all my dreams will be put on hold for the time being. I am scared life will not be the same again.

 

I don't know what the future holds and it terrifies me.

[Happy Lemming]

I don't think you are alone in your thinking.  Until there is a vaccine, a lot of the world is in a holding pattern.

On my local news (this morning) my state has seen a big increase in COVID-19 cases. Moreover, the hospitals are at near capacity.  The "health officials" attribute this to the lifting of the "Stay at home" order, which happened on May 15th.

My girlfriend went home to her small micro apartment on June 1st.  All of her "daily activity" places are still closed (We are both older and in the AARP crowd, and those places are still closed to protect our age group).

My advice is "Control the controllables"... We have very little control over this virus and how it spreads.  If I can't control it, then I don't worry about it.  I'll continue to social distance, wear my mask, and limit my exposure to other people (as best I can).

As far as dating... yes, I think dating in 2020 isn't going to happen.  2020 is just going to be a "write off" for dating.  If there is a vaccine in 2021, then "dating" will resume.

[Ellener]

22 hours ago, contel3 said:

I don't know what the future holds and it terrifies me.

People keep it a secret but- almost everyone is.

Worried about the future I mean, in general. At some point. The pandemic just focused a lot on things we'd rather not think about, like sickness and death and poverty.

15 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

"Control the controllables"

My father used to wear a little disc which said

'God, give me Grace to accept with Serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to know the difference.'

If life has changed forever, as it does at any time whatever you do there is no surety against sickness, death or poverty, then be encouraged to do the best you can every day in whatever way you can.

Find yourself, gift to the world or however the song goes.

 

 

[d0nnivain]

I share some of your fears.  

I've been trying to do things to cope with my fears.  I actually went to a store yesterday.  

One of the things that helped me is other people's bravery (or stupidity) Anyway one of the people I've feared infecting is out living her life.  She shopped through the whole thing.  She ran a food pantry.  She prepared meals for 1st responders.  Now she's at the beach & she's almost 80.  

Death is a part of life.  I have already lost 20 people since March.  I've worried.  I've prayed.  I've cried. I've hidden in my house.  

At this point I've decided to wait until mid-June to see how many protestors get Covid.  If the #s don't spike I'm going to assume we're more in the clear for now, at least until flu season in the fall.  

[FMW]

I'm being cautiously optimistic.  Cautiously being the key word.  

One of my very favorite things in life, live music in small venues, is starting to come back very slowly in my city. I spent Sunday afternoon in the outside patio of my favorite venue hearing live music for the first time in almost 3 months. It was limited to 25% capacity with the tables spaced well apart from each other, but I think all of us in attendance thought it was wonderful.  The guy I'm seeing was one of the musicians, and I had several other friends in the band.  They were really happy to be able to play live together again.  

I think for those looking to meet new people to date, things will go pretty slowly for the rest of the summer.  But there's certainly no reason to write it off for the long-term.   

My company has announced we will continue working from home at least through the end of July, but that makes sense.  The headquarters where I work has over 5000 people and it's completely impractical to social distance.  Since the elevators are limited right now to only two people at a time, although there are many elevators, we would spend all our time waiting in line.  Way too many flights of stairs for that to be an option either.  

Our hospitalization numbers have continued to move down and as I said, I'm cautiously optimistic about things continuing to go in the right direction.   

[Emilie Jolie]

 This is a strange time for so many people - in fact, I don't know anyone who hasn't be affected by this pandemic professionally, health-wise, mentally, emotionally, financially, sometimes all at once.

Hang in there, contel3 - it's mostly out of our hands, you just need to trust that a vaccine or at least an effective treatment will be found at some point - and it will. I've found that stepping away from covid-19 related news has helped keep a relatively stable mental health, to be honest. I'm stuck at home anyway for another few weeks for health reasons (not pandemic related) and there have been days where I've gone stir crazy, but I had to pull myself together and focus on achievable short-term goals, reading books and posting on LS. I've gotten in touch with friends I'd not spoken to in years, which was nice, and called every member of my close family a lot more often.

Don't feel guilty about living your own life - as long as you are careful and considerate, it's ok to have social distancing meet-ups. As far as dating, that's a tough one; we're still learning to live in this new reality, so yeah, perhaps holding off on dating until things get to 'normal' (whatever that is) is probably best.

Things will get better, though - keep your chin up!

[Ellener]

2 hours ago, FMW said:

I think for those looking to meet new people to date, things will go pretty slowly for the rest of the summer.  But there's certainly no reason to write it off for the long-term.   

Yes, a Catch 22, whether someone is very eager to meet or overly cautious it just gives the impression they are a carper...but spending hours on phone calls wasn't a good way to get to know someone for me either as the men really weren't that invested in friendship first. They all wrote it on their profiles too!!!