Hello Everybody. Last time, I said I would have something to say about how to maintain our mental health during the pandemic. So, I consulted the medical community and here are some tips.

First: Try to keep up with a daily routine—getting up and going to bed at the same times. Don’t wear your pajamas all day. Get dressed. Eat healthy meals and exercise. You know doctors would tell us that.

Second: Keep up your social contacts. You can’t be with loved ones and friends in the flesh, but you can use the phone, Facetime and Zoom to stay in touch and find out how everybody’s doing.

Third: Limit the alcohol you drink or don’t drink it all. You may think it eases the pain, but it can make you more depressed.

Fourth: Limit your time watching news about the coronavirus and stories about other problems in the country and around the world. It’s not good to dwell on the bad.

But I have some of my own tips. Let me tell you about those.

We take any opportunity to celebrate. Like my cat’s birthday or the first day of fall, or National Elephant Appreciation Day. And yes, there is such a day set aside and it’s in September.  It’s an opportunity to make a special meal or bake a cake or have a toast.

Those Amazon deliveries? I open those boxes pretending they’re Christmas presents. I take out what’s inside and say something like, “Oh, batteries. Just what I needed.” You can have fun.

And color. I surround myself with colors. I don’t wear any drab clothes. I wear something like this. Too much color for you? Oh, I love all the colors.

I’m sure you can come up with your own ideas. It’s just so important that we take care of our mental health as we try to protect our physical health. We need to help ourselves and help each other get through what is probably the worst period of our lifetimes.

See you next time.