The effects of the Coronavirus and Covid-19 have brought challenges and concerns that are unprecedented. These are no small things to be sure. Our jobs, businesses, financial security and indeed, our very lives have been compromised. And, for the most part, we in California at least have been “locked down”. “Self quarantined”. “Socially distanced”. Did these words even exist in our lexicon just weeks ago?

Yet, here we are. Locked up. For the common good. To “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus. To (hopefully) prevent a wide-scale outbreak that would overrun hospitals and healthcare providers. Still, it is frustrating, maddening and a general pain in the butt!

But cheer up! It ain’t all bad. It recently occurred to me that I have benefited from a number of unexpected things that have been really good. Among them:

• Fewer Spam calls. Before the lock down, it wasn’t unusual for me to get a half dozen “robocalls” a day. I still get some, but just one or two at most. So that’s a happy thing!
• Less laundry to do. I can wear the same set of sweatpants and t-shirts for days. And thanks to social distancing, those around me are not offended if my clothing “ripens” a bit.
• More “quality time” with family. We always valued our time together with those we love. But everyone under one roof 24×7? That’s extreme. Yet we’re doing it, and without bloodshed…yet.
• Lower gasoline expense. I understand that prices at the pump are the lowest in years. I can’t confirm this as I haven’t had to buy any gas for my car in weeks. Because I can’t go anywhere.
• No traffic. The few times I have had to venture out, the first thing that strikes me is there’s no traffic. Very few cars. I’ve seen photos of the 405 freeway at “rush hour” wide open. For anyone with any time in southern California, this is a Big WOW!
• Parking available. I get off the freeway in record time and pull into a shopping center. Usually I drive around and around looking and waiting for parking space to open up. Not now. They’re all over the place and right in front of the store resulting in a LOT LESS aggravation. Lower stress, blood pressure, less headaches. More health benefits!
• Uncrowded stores. I get in. I get out. Nobody gets hurt. Because nobody’s there. No lines at checkout. I walk up, complete my transaction in seconds and I’m on my way. As someone who has always hated shopping and lines in general, this has been a very welcome benefit. I even have a small concept now why some people enjoy shopping.
• Time for webinars to learn new things. What I’ve learned in the past few weeks is great. Things that will help my business and my client’s business when life returns to normal again.
• Finally, time for social media and blogging. I encourage our clients to blog and post regularly. However, a quick inspection of dates of my posts and you’ll see I am no “social media maven” myself. Like most of my clients, I didn’t have the time before. I’m busy taking care of them. Optimizing websites, Google Ads campaigns, cleaning citations, and reporting on all of our awesome work and our client’s improved strength in local search results. Now, here I am with my third blog post in three consecutive days. Wow. And here you are. You probably followed a link I put up on Google or Facebook or LinkedIn. And I attracted traffic to my website which will improve my site’s rankings. Just how it’s supposed to work. The doctor has healed himself!

Take some joy from your “silver lining”

Granted, the past few weeks have been very inconvenient. I have concerns about life after lock down, whenever that occurs. In the meantime, I can at least take some small comfort in the “silver lining”, thin as it may be.

But at least it’s something.