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How did it get to the 5th month of the year already? It’s been the strangest, most surreal year for me so far. We’ve been in lockdown 6 weeks now and hopefully we’re starting to see a decrease in the number of Covid deaths and cases. Speaking to people I think a few are getting more fed up, less motivated and finding it harder at times now. It seems the roads are busier and some places are reopening. I get why people think they shouldn’t as it’s increasing human traffic but I also get that the economy needs to start moving again at some point.

We CAN keep going in lockdown and we have to for as long as needed. We need patience to avoid a second wave. I read Germany loosened their restrictions but are having to tighten them again because the numbers started going back up which is not what we want here. If being in lockdown a little longer means no second wave we should definitely push through.

For me personally, it feels like I’ve been in lockdown life since my stroke in January. I’d had a few visitors but other than that all I’d really done was walk outside or go to the supermarket a few times. That was the beginning of trying to get out more when I felt ready but then lockdown happened and I haven’t had chance to do more. I have days where I feel fed up but I’m just trying to keep myself busy and distracted and I know that one day I’ll be able to try more again. I still don’t even know how I’ll cope with busier places with more noise and more going on. Maybe it’ll be easier to get used to being out and about and gain my confidence because places won’t be as busy for a while?

We won’t be returning to life as it was before lockdown for a long time yet. Afer my stroke, the main thing I won’t be returning to as before, is work. I will go back to a desk job but I won’t be teaching. I may eventually but I’ll have to see how things go.

Some people will struggle at first, some may adapt quickly, even if it does feel strange and different. It will be a ‘new normal’ for everyone …. similar to what a Stroke Survivor goes through because life has changed in different ways for survivors. People might grieve for what life used to look like, just as a Stroke Survivor does. We might look forward to eventually, maybe in a few years going back to life as it was, for a survivor it may never return to what it was.

We will learn to accept and acknowledge our new “normal”. I hope we all have a new appreciation for the things, places, people and time that we have in our lives and remember not to take life during lockdown and before Covid-19 for granted again.

Just a little thought for 1st May and a new month.

Stay safe, stay positive and stay home 🌈💞🌈