COVID and Beyond

Have you ever noticed a tendency to view yourself as invincible? It's not a true belief of invincibility, but rather a perception that other people's experiences couldn't or wouldn't ever happen to us. Virginia and I both admit to this when it comes to being sick. It's not typically something most people admit out loud or are even conscious of, but it's the optimistic or perhaps naive assumption similarly phrased as "that won't happen to me." For us, it's often like a badge of honor that we never get sick. The perception digs in deeper as we often assume we'd react differently, navigate better, or problem-solve more quickly than someone else. This week I, Al Gugliotta, share about my Covid experience. Can you believe it? I wound up with Covid after two years of evading it! I still can't believe it although I'll have to come around soon since I'm still dealing with the chest congestion and all the after-effects. Maybe this is one of those instinctual patterns like fight-or-flight that helps us keep moving forward during tough times or maybe it's setting us up for disappointment. In this episode, listen for: Having a greater sense of empathy and gratitude for the vaccine because of my exposure to COVID [26:07] We're terrified of stillness and quiet. We're conditioned to stay busy and if we stop, it's uncomfortable [39:47] Are you too close to your life and lifestyle which prevents you from taking action on your goals? [51:44] One thing I see clearly is the tendency for people (us included) to focus on a single issue that elicits an emotional response from them. We're so focused on local issues that are blown out of proportion by the media when there are much more impactful issues going on in the world. I've tried for so long to listen to all the news/podcasts to get both sides of the story and I'm starting to see that it's not serving me, leading me toward a media fast altogether. www.unlearningproject.org