Out of the Rut

Sometimes in life you get stuck in a rut. That may be a southern saying. I grew up in a small town with dirt roads full of ruts. You know, bumpy holes in the road. As a lifelong runner, I spent many, many hours running on dirt roads – often with teammates, often solo – so I’m familiar with dirt road terrain.

But anyway. “Stuck in a rut” actually means “having a wheel stuck in a groove in the road.” I just searched it. It is an actual thing. A feeling of being stuck – sounds about right for what is increasingly feeling like an endless quarantine.

The last few weeks have been a bit rough – some personal stuff I’m not at liberty to share, a general weariness over this irritating quarantine, a sadness for our world as more racial injustice occurs and a presidential election I am already exhausted from. Toss in stress over the (virtual) school season upon us, a desperate search for a new nanny (so hard during quarantine), and some professional juggling and – phew.

To break out of a rut, sometimes you have to be intentional. So this week was back to basics after a blah Monday and Tuesday. For me, this means a few things.

1. Exercise. It really is my key to sanity. So Wednesday I went for a good run. Yesterday I did my favorite Core Power Yoga class with Melvin, my quarantine virtual crush. Both good for the soul. Today will be another run.
2. Attack problems. One of my professional strengths is that I am solution-oriented. So, attack I did. I think (really, really hope) I have found a new nanny for our family. After short-term solutions have dried up (our last childcare solution was a teacher aide who is now going back to virtual school), I made an offer to a new nanny late this week. Without childcare for my youngest, the rest of our world gets really out of balance. So this is a big one. In the meantime, I did find a short-term solution with a family friend who is graciously helping us out. And I created a learning pod for my oldest daughter and a few friends to help make their senior year of high school sort of fun and brainstormed some ideas for my son and his friends. Kids in check, mostly.
3. Keep moving. Moping is really counterproductive. Checking things off the to-do list often makes me happy so I focused on feeling good about accomplishing a few things. My son and I both had yearly physical doctor appointments. Made a long overdue car appointment which I will check off the list today. Caught up on my email inbox. Not really sexy items, but less clutter in my brain.
4. Find joy. This week joy looked like watching a TV show marathon with my oldest daughter. Listening (in a non-creepy way) while my son and a few friends had an epic pickle ball match in our backyard topped off with a pizza fest on our deck. It felt kind of like a normal summer. Yesterday, amidst driving my son to his cross country practice (they run in very small pods) I chose to sit at a pretty park instead of driving back and forth. Soaking up a beautiful morning.
5. Distraction. I got sucked into a really good book. Talked with some good friends. Nearing the end of our next Netflix series (Queen of the South – highly recommend if you like cartel series. Great storytelling, although a bit intense). Largely, more focused fun – less phone scrolling. And I hate to admit – less news. Sometimes, you just have to ignore the parts of the world that are driving you crazy.

These are all things I can control. Nothing fancy, but I think I am out of my rut now. Ready for the week-end. We have a fun week-end on the horizon and I am here for it!