When it comes to rules on how to keep ourselves healthy, it seems as if the simpler the advice, the harder it is to actually follow. We all know what our doctors will say (and will keep saying, time and again) to try to keep us healthy. Eat your vegetables. Exercise. Get plenty of rest. Don’t smoke, and cut down on your alcohol consumption. Wear sunscreen.
Simple stuff. We all know these bits of wisdom, and yet they can be so difficult to adhere to. I wonder sometimes, if the secret to good health was a bit more exotic or unusual — like standing on your toes for precisely 33 seconds every afternoon at 3:33pm, or reciting the alphabet backwards in French twice in a row — then maybe people would feel more challenged and more inspired to achieve it. After all, “get sufficient sleep” doesn’t sound very exciting.
Now that coronavirus has turned our way of life upside down for the foreseeable future, we are hearing (and trying to follow) some additional rules — equally simple, yet perhaps just as difficult to follow. Washing one’s hands — that should be routine already, right people? Then there’s social distancing. I think that one has felt especially difficult.
The logic is clear: stay away from other people to reduce your risk of breathing in a droplet of a sneeze that comes floating across the room from an infected individual, carrying an evil little virus along with it.
But staying away from people is usually not in our nature. We’re social creatures — we like to shake hands and high-five and maybe even hug — and we typically spend a lot of time doing things with others. So much of our identities are defined by the groups with whom we associate. How do we suddenly halt our social lives?
It seemed surreal to read the news or check my inbox and discover that athletic events were being planned without a live audience, and then canceled altogether; schools were closed; churches, bowling alleys, and movie theaters were closed; restaurants were only allowed to offer take-out or delivery; and the advice being given was to stay home. Reduce exposure. Get your toilet paper and hunker down.
I’m sure I was not alone in how I struggled mentally to adjust to the change. The birthday party my son had been invited to was canceled. We should go see a movie instead, I thought. Nope. It was such a beautiful day out — we should take the kids to the playground! Wrong. Can we at least go get a cup of coffee? Not if we wanted to sit at any of the tables.
Social distancing is a necessary — but uncomfortable — step to take to fight this outbreak. After all, people thrive on interaction! But interaction has found a way. Thanks to the magic of phone calls and texting and FaceTime and even that old nemesis Facebook, people have been staying connected.
These past few weeks amidst constantly sad news, I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with old friends, texting with neighbors, and FaceTiming with family. It’s a heartwarming silver lining in this cloudy existence of the coronavirus. I hope it continues long after our daily lives return to normal.
Now if I could only stop touching my face – the end of my nose is always itchy!
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March 30, 2020 at 11:15AM
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Bill Zuck: Social distancing -- such easy advice, so hard to do - The Sun Chronicle
"easy" - Google News
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