Joy since the pandemic

I have two grandsons born at the start of the pandemic and after it. They bring me great joy.

Stillness

Just wondering….is it just me, or does anyone else feel there’s so little joy in life since the pandemic? AIBU to think that so many things have changed for the worse during the past five years?

That’s cos things really have got worse since the Pandemic, due I expect to the huge cost of it to the economy.
On a personal level tho, it’s made me appreciate life, family and friends, going out, more than before.

I don’t feel that way, but I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by family and friends and dogs, all of whom daily make me both mad and smile.

I try and work on the premise of counting my blessings, and knowing that lots of people are better off than me and many many more are worse off.

Even on a rainy day be sure that the sunshine will eventually come again 🌞🌞🌻🌻

I lost my elder daughter just before the pandemic and my husband at the end of Lockdown, but Yes! I still feel joy but of a different kind.

The old joy has gone forever but I welcome and cherish the new one because I’ve always been a glass half full kinda gal. 🥳

merlotgran

I lost my elder daughter just before the pandemic and my husband at the end of Lockdown, but Yes! I still feel joy but of a different kind.

The old joy has gone forever but I welcome and cherish the new one because I’ve always been a glass half full kinda gal. 🥳

🩷💐

Difficult one for me as OH died at the very start of the pandemic. He had Parkinsons and was debilitated after a fall and surgery for broken hip and then died of a sudden infection, nature unknown.
So the lockdowns were a desperate time for me ... I needed company and was very alone. I really do not think I have got over it all yet and the presence of joy is hard to discern

Yes the world has changed. My joy is in my personal life with my family and friends as it has always been. We continue to support each other through ups and downs. How right merlotgran is that the old joy goes when you lose loved ones. It is wonderful to know that She welcomes and cherishes new joys. We can all learn a lot from her outlook and view of life.

I love your attitude, Merlot.

I think those of us with a positive attitude generally will have found joy again more easily that those people who are more pessimistic.

Stillness

Just wondering….is it just me, or does anyone else feel there’s so little joy in life since the pandemic? AIBU to think that so many things have changed for the worse during the past five years?

I was rarely depressed or pessimistic before then.

Since things have gone "back to normal", I have felt much more sad and lonely, even though I am in an ongoing 18 year relationship. A bit like a lost soul.

I lost a number of friendships during covid and, despite my best efforts, I have been disappointed in not being able to rekindle them.

To make things worse, I keep feeling that the world is slowly losing compassion and humanity.

I have never ever felt like this previously in my life but, then, I am old.

I am also one of the rare males on this site.

I feel before the pandemic I took a lot for granted and I try not to so much now, so in a way, there is more joy.
We were fortunate not to loose anyone we cared for though.

lose

kittylester

I love your attitude, Merlot.

I think those of us with a positive attitude generally will have found joy again more easily that those people who are more pessimistic.

I couldn’t have put it better 😊

I don’t feel any different now to before in fact I ve forgotten all about the pandemic… of course I know it happened but I rarely think of it now it was just a time that has passed, my life now is little different to before, or even during I live alone I go on the beach I swim I do my garden and my allotment I meet up with friends, I do voluntary work ( of course there was a short break in the work but that chasm healed over and is forgotten

I feel the same BlueBelle. My DH is now diognosed with Alzheimer's Disease, so I look to the future with some anxiety, although that is not the result of Covid. I took was lucky not to lose any loved ones during the pandemic.

‘The world slowly losing its compassion and humanity’. Thats it Ramses….you've hit the nail on the head, for me at least, I think,

I'm like you BlueBelle, I don't ever think about it. I worked Clinically in the NHS through out all that time it was very tough, but I was fortunate I didn't pick it up.
I don't really know any one who ever refers to it now, it's all in the past.

No, not in the past. My family continue to suffer serious repercussions from what happened to us.

As for joy? This is fleeting just as before the pandemic.
However, the consequences of Brexit and the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere, not to say Trump being re-elected is more than enough to cause sinking into a pit of despair.
Don't even mention Reform.
Yes joy can be found but we are living in challenging times.

BlueBelle

I don’t feel any different now to before in fact I ve forgotten all about the pandemic… of course I know it happened but I rarely think of it now it was just a time that has passed, my life now is little different to before, or even during I live alone I go on the beach I swim I do my garden and my allotment I meet up with friends, I do voluntary work ( of course there was a short break in the work but that chasm healed over and is forgotten

Yes, I agree with you Bluebelle to an extent.

Life, as a whole has changed, but then, life is always changing. It changed dramatically in the 1960s, it changed after the galloping inflation of the 1970s, and so and so on.

At a personal level my life is changing dramatically at the moment. After spending over 55 years and part of my childhood living in the same county, we are now upping sticks and moving 80 miles to live closer to family. Not only that, we are moving to a house that is the biggest project we have yet undertaken.

Like merlotgran I am a glass half full person. I tend to make the best out of any situation and I am always aware that life, as a whole, has delivered me a very good hand of cards, so I face any problems philosophically.

The world, like life, has its ups and downs, and I do think that it is currently changing and becoming more turbulent, but then most of us lived through the Cold War, and the fact that, in the end, nuclear war was avoided, does not mean that it wasn't a real and present threat for 45 years and we have lived through 40 years when great national wars were not a thread - but terrorism has been a growing and constant threat - and now national wars are a threat again.

Life has been a piece of cake for very few, since time began.

Yes, I do. My health's never really been the same since I had Covid, and in general terms, I think the world has changed since then too - and not for the better.

Joy is always here, just sometimes you have to look harder to find her…

Best of luck OP with your post. Nobody chooses to be a glass drained away kinda person.

I think the pandemic marked a massive change in the collective mentality.