Millions of people worldwide are navigating the constantly shifting landscape of the COVID 19 pandemic. 

 While there is no one magic solution to getting through these challenges, some things can help us persevere.  

Here are a few tips from moms, veterans, and seniors who thrive despite the uncertainty.

Moms:

The pandemic makes parenting extra complicated.  “It is like navigating a raging river in a leaky canoe,” said one mom.  

“My sanity comes from my new weekly DIY spa night ritual.  I have ordered some bath bombs and scented candles from Amazon.”  

“Once a week, I draw a bath, light a candle and put on some music.  While my kids are engaged in a movie, I get a much-needed respite and chance to reconnect with myself.”

Veterans:

News media spent the first three months of the pandemic referring to it as an unprecedented global event.  “Excuse me?” said Canadian war veterans.

One of my favourite news stories during this crazy time was called ‘This too shall pass ‘: Pandemic pep talks from Canadian WW II veterans.   

In this CBC story, these vets talk about how a positive attitude helped them persevere through the uncertainty of the war. 

We can all learn a lot from them. 

Seniors:

It is so impressive how resilient my 85-year-old grandmother is in the face of this pandemic.  

She has been in total lockdown in her assisted care residence so often that it has become routine.  

However, she has embraced social media and video conferencing in a big way to stay connected to her family.

She was already a fairly avid user of Facebook.  Still, she doubled down on learning how to master the platform during the early months of the pandemic and is now probably just as social media savvy as most of her grandchildren.   

Our next goal is to learn how to do a Netflix watch party to watch our favourite movies together.  

With so many people facing challenges, it can be easy to lose hope.  But that’s not what these three groups of individuals did.  Many moms, veterans, and seniors manage to stay optimistic despite their hardships because they know how vital optimism is for success.  

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