I haven’t been able to talk to anyone else about this, so may as well throw it out to the interwebz 
But does anyone else feel like they did not cope well through this pandemic bullshit; are 100% not coming out as a shiny, new and improved specimen?
I feel like everywhere I look people are saying how they’ve used the time to transform, have gotten stronger, smarter, enjoyed all the extra time and changes etc. but I’ve never felt more like shit than I do now, and have for the past 1.5 years. And then I feel guilty for this… a persons character is judged by how they handle the tough times.
I’ve kept up with my job, and I don’t think I’ve showed this too much in that regard.
I feel so beat down and so far removed from any of the routines that used to be my foundation.
I think our gym is opening up again next week. I am so very much looking forward to this.
Thanks if you’ve read this and it makes any sense to you lol.
hey @coyotegal - happy cake day!
I don’t know anyone that is not affected negatively by the shutdown. I have read about some people that have “thrived” and maybe did some personal growth, but most of the people that I am surrounded by are more suspicious, more polarized in their political opinions and definitely more on edge than before.
Even with the mask issue, our group is divided on when it is still necessary to wear a mask, and how it is affecting them - some of my group is now more wary about the government exerting even more control of their lives, and some were loving the additional “government money” that was provided, and want it to continue.
My circle of friend/family have not come out of this unscathed - and some have long term affects - Some are still caught in the news cycle, waiting to hear about the next calamity that is to befall us all.
Me? I’m just waiting for the Aliens to arrive…
I gained 20 lbs of pure fat. Read 1 book the entire time. I’ve been working from home since March 2020 and all I’ve really accomplished is getting pretty good at online poker.
Everyone’s in a different situation, and those who preach they’re ‘so much better’ could well be just putting on a front for their chest beating social media outlet.
Physically, emotionally, mentally, etc., I’d wager most have taken a toll in at least one of these areas.
And in many places around the world, there’s still lockdowns etc., it’s definitely a case of playing the long game in the mind.
So don’t feel bad about ‘not making it out’, here in Australia, we’re lagging behind on vaccine rollouts, and a quarter of the country is currently in lockdown.
Personally I didn’t seem to find any extra time, but kid(s) will do that!
My 2c and all.
That sounds like some instabullshit to me. “Living my best life…” 
It was very difficult for many including me and my loved ones.
Not gonna lie. I haven’t coped exactly well. 
It was yet another shit sandwich in a life that has been far too full of some really whopping shit sandwiches.
The only thing new and improved in me is a big shiny new stent in one of my coronary arteries.
Great topic @coyotegal I have not done well and no one I trust has either.
My family has gotten closer but more from a survival standpoint. We have discussed emergency plans, food stores, and ammunition supplies.
America is being attacked from all sides including from the inside. I don’t know if we will survive this. 2022 and 2024 will set our fate in motion.
A lot of people make New Year’s Resolutions every year and I think this is the same kind of thing - it’s supposed to be an opportunity for some sort of great re-setting of your life.
So a lot of people have made the same kind of promises: going to eat better, train more, learn a new skill, whatever, be a better person somehow.
From what I’ve seen, there have been similar outcomes. Some people took up baking (for a little while) some started learning a new language (for a little while) some started Peloton (for a while). Pretty much the same results as you see every January when the gym gets swamped by New Year’s Resolutionaries for three weeks and then by Feb it’s back to normal.
Except that this “re-set opportunity” also came with a side serving of A LOT of hardship for a lot of people. Loved ones dying, losing jobs, lockdowns.
So @coyotegal if you aren’t coming out of this all new & improved, maybe just think of it as about on a par with not keeping your New Year’s Resolutions.
And for anyone who HAS kept their resolutions, away with your smug sanctimonious bullshit, um, or should I rather say, well done and go you.
It’s not just you. I definitely came out of 2020 fatter and less motivated. It’s been an unprecedented year and a half (unless you’re over 100 and remember the 1918 flu), so mental fatigue is normal. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Even if you’ve barely been maintaining your regular physical training, you’re doing better than a lot of people.
There has been one significant positive change for me in the past year that had nothing to do with the pandemic.
Overall it caused a low level of frustration.
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Decreased visitation for my grandmother residing in a nursing home in her last year of life. She passed away in June.
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A near constant overhearing of conversation about covid at every social event in addition to…
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Actual constant talk about and adjustments in actions at work (healthcare) because of it.
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Dismay from some close to me because of my actions. “You went there (gym and church) and there was no mask mandate? Isn’t that illegal of them? Do you think that was a good idea considering you have kids?”
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Frequently not being able to understand people because of masks and not being able to see their facial expression or smiles.
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Frequent questioning from a close family member about whether I’m going to get the vaccine or not while ignoring my legitimate concern about it regarding a certain area of life. (I’m not anti-vaccination generally.)
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People’s trepidation about social gatherings at my home or elsewhere. Example: “Are the So and So’s coming over for barbecue/kid’s birthdays/July 4th/Father’s Day/Mother’s Day?”
“I’m not sure, she’s still iffy about bringing the kids/herself around with what’s going on.”
Granted this is understandable.
- A seemingly abrupt uptick in embracement of some ideology by some that might have been quiet on whatever matter before. I’ll be somewhere intended for fun and next thing I know someone is barking and bellowing about something he or she wants to shove on all in attendance.
All of this has been mild though. As said, it was only low-level frustration. Some people have had it very bad in the past year.
I have seen some of the humble or outright online brags, including those about increased income in the past year. Publicly stating such strikes me as strange and either insensitive or self-centered considering how many did so poorly during the past year. Aside from brags during a pandemic, public brags about success often result in others feeling bad about themselves.
From a Nietzschian perspective, anyone that came out of the pandemic, by definition, came out of it better.
I’ve seen this too. In fact, I have almost a hidden talent for talking with people and having strange things emerge that they would never admit or divulge otherwise. I actually really like that. I know what the weather is. Tell me what you really think.
But more recently people have become very aggressive with the belief that you must also agree with what ever belief they have that they are voicing, even if you never asked to know these things and were otherwise disengaged from the subject.
That’s the part I can do without. I don’t need to choose a side on a subject or idea that I otherwise wouldn’t give the time of day to just because someone else decided to tell me about it.
I think all of us have coped in different ways this year. In some ways I feel stronger, in other ways it totally knocked the wind out of my sails. No gym, my 7th grader had to struggle with school at home all year, my wife had to attend law school virtually last year (seriously, virtual school is the absolute worst form of education) which definitely affected her GPA.
Some family has caught the virus but thankfully with no lasting effects. Other health issues in the family were made scarier by the presence of this virus and its wantonness to attack those already weakened.
This is directly a product of more people spending more time online this year inside their comfortable confirmation bias bubbles. It just ingrains what people feel they should believe deeper without actually applying any thought to why they should believe it.
Additionally - Everyone in past 1.5 years has become an expert on everything and lay people really believe their opinion is as valid as a subject matter expert’s.
I agree!
You should absolutely not feel guilty at all.
Not sure where I stole it from, but I posted this on FB April 7 of last year when everything was still freshly unraveling, and I 100% believe it to still be true.
If they’re being genuine, then good for them, truly. But some people were more focused on basic self-sustaining than self-improvement, and that’s not a lesser choice.
Reading through my “training” log here on the site from last March-April-May, it’s a pretty weird time capsule of what was going on and how things morphed as everything progressed. Suffice it to say, getting my family through one day at a time was more important than reading a book a week or working ab definition (2020 T-ransformation notwithstanding).
My autistic son as still having a hard time dealing with it. He thinks there are germs on everything I bring home. Constant hand washing, almost to the point of a phobia.
Fear of failure is a big driver for me. I kicked into another gear during the pandemic and ticked off numerous big goals personally and professionally over the last 15 months. Felt like things could come crashing down any day and so I needed to maximize my time and be the best everyday in case…
I was also very fortunate to have put myself in a position before the pandemic, both personally and professionally, to be able to thrive during the pandemic. If a few things had been different I would have had a much tougher time.
But yes, some people coast during good times but rise to meet challenges and beat adversity, and it’s during those times they shine. Others shine during the easy times, but struggle with adversity. Takes both kinds.
2020 and some of 2021 was and has been probably the worst year(s) of my life. And that’s before factoring the ‘Rona in. It was just a sucky year, with a lot of family issues and some losses, non-Covid related.
I’ve made no personal improvements, haha. I’m not much smarter, fitter, or more organized or something that I was in February of 2020. I’ve regressed in some areas.
I had a son in December of 2020, spent a LOT of time with family, and done well in school though. And I’m alive and healthy. So I’m grateful to be where I am today, despite all the sh*t going on.
All the “extra time” only applies to people who had extra time. Or, I should say, people who had extra time while managing to maintain their income. I’m not sure I know many of those people.
Exactly. Not to turn this into a political thing but I saw childless people with high paying office jobs work remotely with no interruptions and take advantage of the low stock costs to set themselves up even better for the future.
Also saw single parents with multiple children at home lose their jobs and use any stimulus money (for my fellow ‘Muricans) just trying to survive. Couldn’t even pay off debt sometimes, let alone start investing.
I don’t blame those people for not writing a novel and getting a six pack. (And I don’t blame you if you did do those things. Good for you.)
Extra time was hard to find in most of my circle.
Our shit got so fucked up. We got the first stimulus, then nothing. Wife was in a high exposure job with a boss who thought it was “a bunch of bullshit” and me at home with CHF. She was having panic attacks every day thinking she was going to kill me, and had to stop. But PAs unemployment system is completely fucked, so she was approved but was on an infinite waiting list for when her unemployment claim might be paid out. Literally # 3million something in a cue of about 5 million.
So, no income, no stimulus, and against any and all medical advice I went back on my old tree crew and started welding & repairing the equipment. And contracted covid. Then after numerous bouts of near fatal exhaustion and unstable angina along with myocardial ischemia I ended up back in the hospital for multiple procedures.
And people are asking “Why are you doing this? What if you die?”
Well apparently there is no cavalry, and I’m going to fucking die anyways.
So might as well die trying.
Then these fucks on social media and news outlets are like “Bunch of freeloaders gaming the system…” then a bunch of idiots parrot them in real life.
And I’m going “Who? How? What Fucking System? What stimulus? WTF!”.
I seriously hate humanity at this point and consider every day that I don’t rip somebody’s throat out an act of God.
So yeah. No six pack. Not this year.