​But why aren’t we full of the joys of preparing for 2 young people to commit to each other and live a life happily ever after???
 
It’s not because of the following reasons …

• We love our soon to be daughter-in-law …
• They have been together for nearly 5 years and adore each other ….
• They have been very frugal and responsible with wedding costs …
• Immediate family members and siblings are here ….
• It’s not because our beloved father / grandfather passed away …
• Everything is nearly perfect!!!

 
You guessed it … what else could it be but … drumroll … C.O.V.I.D. 
 
Ever since getting engaged last year and setting a wedding date … the wedding has been … ON ... and then … OFF, and then ON and then OFF, and then ON and then OFF!!!   You get the picture.
 
We eventually decided to place our bets and bought the tickets from South Africa to Austria to celebrate our eldest son’s wedding.  We just had to make sure that we tested negative for COVID 72 hours before we boarded the flight – this, we thought, would be the hardest part.  We were negative (yay), boarded the plane, flew halfway around the world and were ecstatic to have ALL our children around us.  Happy mom and dad.
 
We just had to quarantine for 5 days and hopefully, we’d still be negative and could then freely wonder around Graz, Austria and help with the final wedding preparations.  However, on the 4th day I started feeling a bit of sinus coming on with a sore throat – not unusual for me as I am very allergic to pollen and grass and we are staying in an apartment surrounded by grass.  My son & his fiancé thought it best not take a chance and gave us a rapid test …. SOB! SOB! SOB! I tested positive for COVID.  
 
The consequences for them and us ….

• They had to move out and isolate (hired an Airbnb) and were basically homeless until their tests came back negative).
• They are not able to enjoy the company of their family but have to avoid us like lepers
• We have been locked up in an apartment for 10 days already with very little to do (have had to watch my calorie intake to make sure I am still able to fit into my wedding outfit)
• My youngest, who has asthma, has to stay with us because he is first contact and didn’t test positive.  Our nearly 21 year old is stuck in a small bedroom with nothing to do but watch Netflix, study and write university exams.  Glad his girlfriend in SA is keeping him sane (thanks Lavinia)
• Worst of all … we are probably not going to be able to attend the civil wedding on the 8th July and Nick won’t be able to attend the bachelor party and make memories.

 
Okay … confession time!  The first few days I was very “woe is me” … look what I’ve done to my poor children … life sucks! And so on …
 
Then my “coaching” / practical brain thankfully kicked in, took me back to basics and sternly told me …
 
“Debbie, it’s okay to feel sad, to have a bit of a cry, to get angry with the world – by all means – feel it! (Did you know it only takes 90 seconds for the chemicals of emotions to run its course through your body?).  Feel better?  Good! Eventually you need to accept it – acceptance brings hope.  Okay … so now what are you going to do?”
 
I’ve called this personality of mine – Joan of Arc.  She puts on her armour and is ready to take on the battle and win – you don’t mess with her.
 
Together “Joan” and I came up with the following “action plan” …

• Continue taking your vitamins and be considerate of the others in the apartment so that they do not get Covid as well.
• Make a list of what I can do to help while sitting in the apartment and keep the brain occupied … Wedding Song Book, packaging the wedding gifts, reading all the books I’ve downloaded on my kindle app, updating my social media, writing a blog, etc.
• Doing daily chores like making sure that the beds made, my little part of the apartment is neat and tidy, doing washing, etc
• Sleeping when I have the need and having a good cry when I feel an emotion welling up in me.
• Oh yes … get some sort of routine going.
• Meditate and Journal (have become rather slack with this).

 
The above I am able to control, and after implementing the action plan, I feel a lot better.  However, I keep reminding myself that there is no way I can control COVID or how other people react or what they do (their circus … their monkeys).  I’m not responsible for them.
 
The Church Wedding will be taking place on the Tuesday, 13th July 2021 … SO this is a PLEA to you all to send lots positive thoughts of healing and being free of Covid to the Kienle family so that we are able to attend (at least) the Church Wedding.
 
I’ll update you (in Part 2) in a couple of weeks ….

 

Everyone has COVID-19 fatigue .... everyone is wishing that life will get back to "normal" ... NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

Unfortunately, humans have got an instinctual scarcity mindset which is either discouraged or enforced during our childhood.  You can also call this a negative bias and it all boils down to SURVIVAL.  The one example that comes to mind is when everyone started standing in queues to buy toilet paper!  We all seemed to be stocking up for doomsday and of course, because we are social beings ... we have the need to belong and follow the pack.

COVID-19 is really a catalyst that has brought unwanted change and caused us to re-evaluate the way we live and what is important to us.  We were taking things for granted, living in an instant gratification culture, ignoring the desperate state our environment and absorbed in our social media.  We were in a comfort zone ... we wished for better and knew what we needed to do to get there, but alas, it would just take too much effort.

Most of us have been FORCED out of our comfort zone and we are grieving for normality.  At first we were in denial, then we got angry with all and sundry, then we said okay, if we wear masks, self-isolate, etc - it will go away!  Now we are back at angry and some of us have moved into depression (suicide rates have increased).  I don't think we as global citizens are anywhere close to accepting that things will not go back to normal.

I don't think it's a bad thing ... we cannot erase the last 10 months ... it will definitely be in the history books.  I think that it is a time for RENEWAL.  In South Africa, we were "fortunate" that our lockdown happened in the winter months ... it was not unbearable to stay in doors as it is natural to feel the need to slow down (animals hibernate), reflect and dream about what we will be doing in the Spring.  

Spring has sprung in the Southern Hemisphere and nature is beautiful ... there is new growth everywhere! Nature knows that letting go (e.g. trees losing their leaves in Autumn), allows new growth which means survival.

We have the opportunity of STARTING OVER ... loose the past comforts and look forward to the ABUNDANCE that nature has to offer.