As we enter into week 4 of stay at home life, I’m guessing that each day gets harder for most of us in a lot of ways. As I was on a conference call last week with a client, he brought up the “silver linings” a few times and it stuck with me all weekend.

As I see people posting pics of their family game nights or bike rides together, I am reminded that, while each day has brought sadness and bad news, if we stop and allow our minds to think about the silver linings of the situation, it can really help on those hard days. So, to set my mind in the right place for a new week ahead, I decided to sit down and really think about some of my own silver linings. While it would be easy to draft a long list of the negative things that have occurred, this challenge is much harder but so important right now.

I. More Time at Home

While this feels like a punishment and a curse, when I really look at the things we have accomplished while being at home, it reminds of how many times at the end of a busy weekend, I crawled into bed and realized how many of my home to do chores didn’t get accomplished. I have organized and cleaned parts of my house that have been on my never-ending list for far too long.

2. Family Time

Stay at home life with two teenagers has been interesting. They are processing their own emotions and feelings just as we are and coping with not being able to see their friends, completing school online this year and putting all of their extracurricular activities on hold. The good news is that it means weekends when they would normally be hanging out with friends are now spent having movie or game nights with us. Since I have a short amount of time left with my son, I am treasuring this unexpected time.

3. Connections

When life is busy and we are all going 100 miles an hour, it can be so easy to forget to check in on our family and friends. Being in this situation has allowed us to connect with our loved ones virtually to ensure everyone is safe and healthy. I know just having a good phone conversation right now can lift my spirits and turn around my day in an instant. It’s definitely something I plan to try and hold on to when this is over.

4. Trying New Things

I never claimed to be a cook of any sort. I make enough meals to get us by but I definitely don’t have time or an interest in really expanding my cooking skills beyond that. With all of us at the house eating all of our meals together, it has pushed me to look at some alternate recipe ideas to keep things different. In my normal everyday life, there just isn’t enough time to do things like this.

5. Being Resourceful

I have always had a tendency, despite having a grocery list, to buy one or two items in excess when I second guess if I have them on hand. With our grocery shopping becoming less frequent, I have gone through food in the pantry and supplies in our cabinets to truly assess what we have that can be used vs. buying new or making frequent trips to the store. During my prep for my daughter’s birthday recently, I discovered I already had both cake mix and frosting in my pantry plus more candles than I care to admit.

6. Acts of Kindness

I have always been a huge fan of random acts of kindness. I just believe that the simplest things can brighten someone’s day when they least expect it. From the love that was shown to my daughter on her birthday to my sweet girlfriends who constantly offer to help in any way they can, I have seen so much kindness in a time when nothing is more important than caring for each other.

I challenge all of you to sit down this week and jot down some of your silver linings over the last 3 weeks. I can promise you that it will brighten your spirits and help you get through these next few weeks with a little more hope of a light at the end of the tunnel. Stay safe and healthy friends!