Welcome to Sunday 7s, where I strive to provide a small dose of levity to the current coronavirus pandemic by highlighting 7 things relevant to the times and to yours truly, AKA Chris, sport guy by trade, social thought provoker by design.

We’ll see how long we can keep this going. Weekly to Bi-weekly Sunday entries. Really, who knows how long this will go but my hope is that you’ll be enlightened or find an appreciation in these patterns of thought in uncertain times.

By all means, please leave your comments below or email, chris@akasport.org, to share some new ideas and topics you would like to address.

1. Getting back to our Roots - Simplify and Slowing Down
I find it ironic that in this frantic time of the novel COVID-19, the time we are wisely guided to stay at home and slow things down and make every effort to avoid panic, we are attaching ourselves like never before, to our fast moving, “information now” devices to find peace and normalcy.

Although there is a lack of experimental studies examining the impact of the Internet use on cognitive development, you still have to wonder if we, young and old, and our brains, are truly capable of properly handling all this fast paced information and social media content from inter-web and our smart phones. (Also see, Nicholas Carr’s "What the Internet is doing to our Brains" 2015 presentation and “Our Brains are No Match for Our Technology” by Tristan Harris, @tristanharris from December.)

Finding the necessary means to slow things down whenever possible and go back to our Roots.  Reread books, cycle through old pictures and college term papers.  Remind self of yesteryear.

And in terms of SPORT, and everyone asking for tips and tricks as to how to stay active…. what does Nike say? Just Do It!
Walk/RUN/Hike
STRETCH!!!!!!
Bike/Swing/Climb
Pushups/Crunches for the CORE
Shoot Hoops/Juggle & Kick/Dryland Dangle
Sweat anyway you know how & I repeat…STRETCH!
Keep it Simple, DO SPORT and EXERCISE!

Bonus Track
***And if you’re looking to slow down but absolutely prefer the inter-web as your dopamine device, trying exercising the brain with the last two years of Top Ted Talks.
The Most Popular Ted Talks of 2019
The Most Popular Ted Talks of 2018

2. Preparation
Amidst all of this, no matter what your news source, favorite podcast or who your COVID-19 expert is, I hope that you seek a leader. Someone calm. Someone knowledgable. Someone confident. If you ask me, he or she who maintains all of those and then some is the most… Prepared. Enter Mr. Microsoft, Bill Gates

How is he so calm you might ask? Not because of his billions of dollars and the toys (and books!) that he can sit back and quarantine to but, in my opinion, because he is the most prepared. He saw this all coming. He had a plan and whether or not anyone listened to him about it, Bill instills the foresight a leader.

So how prepared are you? Are we too shortsighted and small minded for the next one? We should be so lucky.

Imagine if this pandemic scare occurred in the middle of winter and we were absolutely cooped up in our nests with absolutely no where to go and cars and trucks who dared go out to seek medical aid or groceries got trapped in a blizzard. Or if this pandemic struck our Kids with greater ferocity (**Associated Press, U.S. News, April 6) than our geriatric population. As awful as COVID-19 is and everything it has done, I think we got lucky.
**U.S. News report citing of all cases, 2% were children. More common in older children and teens.

Let’s collectively be prepared for the next one, when a novel virus isn’t so forgiving.

Be #grateful and be #prepared for everything!

3. Lessons learned -Coronavirus pandemic bringing out the Realness in All of Us!

Fitness & Exercise
In my world, next to my fiance and family, fitness is everything. I’ll dive into my routine some other time but know that fitness is an automatic each and every day, even if that means getting 50 push-ups in to start the day and I’m done.

But the question I have and the lesson learned here is ‘What’s up with everyone finally making fitness and exercise a priority now?!’ The other day I witnessed not one but two sets of neighbors going for a walk outside. The countless number of people exercising now… why does it take a pandemic to bring this out?

Consumerism
My God are we obnoxious in our retail ways. This well surpasses the hilarity of Black Friday or procrastination nation the night before Christmas. The hoarding, #Toiletpapercrisis2020, the hysteria! (please don’t watch, this is embarrassing), the number of people shopping for needless items when they are told to #StayatHome!…all will not be forgotten!

But my question is, ‘Will consumerism return to normal ways when we get through this all?’ Will we, America, find the power in us to look back at this, shake our collective head, and lessen the amount that we buy? (**Edited. See Updated Link below) Can we please consider for once that we are all consumer obese and scale back a bit? (Answer: Not a chance. This is ‘merica!)
*Disclaimer: I’m not excluding myself from this conversation… I’m just as much a part.
** Updated Link : Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting (medium.com, April 10)

Balance
Finding balance in anything is never easy. But we should all try. We all get distracted by what we read and… consume. We forget that we need to look to #1 first. This #StayatHome time is forcing us to do things and think about things we never imagined. Take one day at a time. Seek structure, set your reasonable goals, and don’t panic. Find balance in it all and keep going… it all works out in the end!

4. Silver Linings
The term “Silver Lining” came from the common expression "every cloud has a silver lining" meaning that even the worst events or situations have some positive aspect. You are most likely to remind a sad or discouraged friend that there is a silver lining as a way of cheering him up. The origin of the phrase seems to be John Milton's 1634 poem "Comus," which includes the line, "Was I deceived? or did a sable cloud/Turn forth her silver lining on the night?" (vocabulary.com)

Here is my list of COVID-19 Silver Linings (how’d I do, what’d I miss?!):

• Family Time (the Good over the Bad)
  Interesting how we were just talking about this in January - #Sports&FamilyDinner

• People stepping up and using their unique skills for good and for others.
  I see you out there Greg Schulz and your mask making sewing machine.

• Said it above in #3 Lessons Learned:Exercise but the sight of people choosing to get outside and be active, exploring nature, walking your dog! and getting fresh air all now more than ever, is remarkable.

• Decluttering (uh-um, yours truly) and getting after neglected chores.

• All the examples of kindness and feel good stories coming out. To me it has this same feeling of 911 and so many people helping each other. Just wish this could be the case all the time!

  Honorable Mentions:
  Air Pollution is Down!!
  Seismic Activity is Down (National Geographic) who would’ve known (thx CS)!! What else…
  
  

5. Compassion
I’m carrying over an item from #3 - Lessons Learned, an item that should be its very own. Compassion. Much like we felt when 911 happened, we are racing to help one another and caring for those in need.

The fact that this pandemic lands in what will be one of the most storied election years of all time is truly coincidental (or is it, all you Conspiracy Theorists of the world) and remarkable. With so much hate and blame - Left vs. Right, Blue vs. Red, Fake news vs…. whatever daily blasphemy you want to lean on each day - this. is. ridiculous!    

Let’s try not to waste our energy and blame others for the decisions they make, rather #trustthesystem and do whats best for your neighbors.  Or at least stay positive and open minded. Spend your energy helping, not hating!

In these days, there is so much compassion and empathy for those on the front line of this attack and to those struck by hardship. Now would be a good time to watch Tom Hanks’ latest as Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

6. Meditation
Amidst all of this soft talk of compassion and open mindedness, oh and don’t forget, balance!, of all things, I understand what people in hardship are going through, small business owners (I’ve been there) and what so many of YOU PARENTS must be going through balancing your day and maintaining a happy, peaceful and healthy household! If there was only a way to escape and close your eyes and find the “stillness”.

The gratitude I have for having brought meditation into my life, 8 years ago, is immeasurable.  Absolutely immeasurable. Thanks to one of my favorite most cherished humans on earth, Uma, my accountant by day, meditation monk by night, I took a 3 day, 17 hour Ascension meditation course during a rough patch in my life in 2012.  Ascension taught and has given me the tools to find the “stillness” each day and night of my life. If I were to take even one thing from this, going through the Ascension attitudes in the middle of the night knocks me out right back to sleep. We could all use such a method!

Do the best you can… and be grateful for what you have! If you would ever like to hear more about Ascension meditation or if you would be interested in taking a course, I highly encourage you to reach out.

7. Lessons taught – Take Care of Yourself… Don’t let the Fear get you!

#7 of my Sunday 7s was actually my first take in all of this. I wrote this “script” down on Saturday, March 7, well before seeing and experiencing the wrath of COVID-19, and I was hoping to get a quick video in with the pups.

Well the way things escalated, I didn’t get a chance to get both pups, Pippin and Murphy, in the video. Bottom line which still holds true…a #teaching moment for all the kids, “Don’t let the Fear get you!”

Thanks for stopping by.
Until next time, Stay Home, Be Safe, Stay Sharp and be Active! -CS

And for the love of God, if there’s a professional editor or ghostwriter willing to jump in and save me here, heck give me an English Teacher or Latin major (RDS!), please fell free to reach out :)