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On either side of me my neighbours, due to their great age and various medical conditions, are in a full lockdown situation. They are both widowed and live on their own. 

But their spirits are high. We had a long telephone conversation with our semi-detached neighbour yesterday, and she was doing fine - used to being confined to home anyway as she is wheelchair-bound. 

On the other side, separated by a wide passageway and fence, our other immediate neighbour smiles at us and waves frantically when we see her in her kitchen. 

They both make it their business to be happy. 

What an example this is. 

Let's all make it our business to be happy. Think happy thoughts. Find happy things to do. Acquire a happiness psychology, a happy bias to our thinking. 

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28 minutes ago, taurean said:

On either side of me my neighbours, due to their great age and various medical conditions, are in a full lockdown situation. They are both widowed and live on their own. 

But their spirits are high. We had a long telephone conversation with our semi-detached neighbour yesterday, and she was doing fine - used to being confined to home anyway as she is wheelchair-bound. 

On the other side, separated by a wide passageway and fence, our other immediate neighbour smiles at us and waves frantically when we see her in her kitchen. 

They both make it their business to be happy. 

What an example this is. 

Let's all make it our business to be happy. Think happy thoughts. Find happy things to do. Acquire a happiness psychology, a happy bias to our thinking. 

this is lovely :) x

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There will be another meeting of our personal "Cobra" emergency committee today over breakfast. 

Persons present - Julie and Roy, and two soft toys representing the soft toy collection and the garden birds ?

One item on the agenda - substitute podiatry for Roy's neanderthal, difficult to reach feet - can be removed; by using a mini kitchen stool I was able to do the work myself ?

Edited by taurean
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Hi Flower Girl, good to hear from you. :) I'm doing ok, but had to give up writing about 2 years ago because of my physical health. I now spend more time studying instead, and when I can't concentrate on that either I play games online. :D 

What are you up to? 

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Well no-one that really knows me would ever have thought me capable of handling this lockdown situation. 

I have always been a socialite, always out and about. 

But needs must when the devil drives. 

A big help have been the front and rear gardens, which we are tending as part of an ongoing complete renovation project. 

My recent therapy, following a serious OCD relapse, encouraged me to spend most of my focus away from the OCD. So I was already working on that and my music - listening and playing - will stand me in good stead. 

I have puzzle books, happy computer games on my mobile, the exercise walk around the village, and my photography has come back on stream. 

My wife has been nagging me for ages to take up cooking again, and so I have just finished my third recipe-based meal. 

And the birds in the garden are a constant delight for a small outlay on wild bird seed. 

The current better weather is a boost - doing some digging yesterday I was in T-shirt shorts sunscreen and baseball cap. 

And we are reading and watching TV listening to LPs, CDs and musicassettes, and reading and doing the puzzles. 

So I am doing OK and will be able to keep this up - though I fervently hope for some release of lockdown elements as soon as it makes scientific sense. 

Edited by taurean
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I am fortunate myself. Fortunate that, being retired and having stuck to sound financial planning, we don't have to worry about jobs, money or mortgages. 

We are however touching 70, and so apparently more at risk to the coronavirus. 

Others of course are facing tremendous challenges and hardships. 

So what we can do is, whatever our personal circumstances, however difficult things might seem, we can. 

Remember the saying "this too shall pass" ?

That worrying is harmful and destructive. It's OK though to be concerned. 

Be prepared to accept the very worst that can possibly happen. In practice, something rather better than the very worst is likely to happen, so we can consider that a gain. 

See how we can, and then help, others. We are good to ourselves when we show kindness and care to others. 

Take whatever reasonable rational action we can do to minimise our potential losses. Then refuse to worry about the outcome - we will have done our very best. 

Take whatever state aid is on offer, if it will help our business, our managers and staff. 

Edited by taurean
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  • 1 month later...

I love it when businesses come up with pun and silly slogans. There used to be a place in Gateshead that sold large quantities of pallets, and they had a big sign up on the wall saying 'Pallets for sale'. And in smaller letters underneath, they'd painted 'hurry, only one left'.

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I had to laugh today. 

Driving through a village with a closed down pub on the market, the estate agent's sign proclaimed a "fantastic business opportunity". 

I doubt it was, before Covid-19, that anyway as it had already closed down. 

But I very much doubt it might, sadly, be considered it now. 

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  • 5 months later...
On 07/12/2020 at 13:03, mk2 said:

that is so sweet.

It really is :) The good thing about this whole Covid thing and lockdown, was that I found I was interested in stuff like this. I've planted a few more things in the meantime: tomatoes, bell pepper, coriander, parsley, lettuce, carrots and garlic :) It's really relaxing and therapeutic being able to watch it grow. I've also realised that I'm now able to appreciate it because my medication has helped me a lot... it sort of let me out of the darkness that was inside my head.

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  • 2 months later...

I am currently back in therapy after a severe episode of OCD. 

The good news is that I have the means to pay privately and therapy is being conducted through outpatients at the Northampton mental health hospital, which has the infrastructure, therapy team and use of Microsoft teams videoconferencing. 

My therapist is a young lady who has a PhD in clinical psychology. 

Going into the session I dressed smartly, with even a spritz of male perfume. Why not indeed? 

But at least I didn't need to undertake the 20 minute drive to the hospital. 

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