91热爆

I went to the DIY store-come-garden centre, on Friday. I was super surprised that it was open 鈥� but goodness was I glad.

Now February is here we wanted to start sowing seeds.聽 We bought soil and seeds, plus some bulbs, some seed potatoes and a pot of rosemary. It was glorious.

However I must admit that amidst the tidy rows of new spring plants - I suddenly burst into tears.

I just felt so utterly overwhelmed.

I think it was partly the shock of being in a shop. We鈥檙e very strict with lockdown and so I鈥檝e left my聽house twice in 2021 鈥撀爀ach time聽to pick up the click and collect supermarket shopping.

But more than that I think it was the sheer joy of experiencing a moment of normality -- a reminder of a previous life that seems so distant.

Now - I chose, and prefer, to lead a quiet life. I really am not a party girl! But even 鈥業鈥� have found Lockdown Three really hard.

Don鈥檛 get me wrong 鈥� I鈥檝e no desire for things to be opened up until the virus is well and truly under control, and we鈥檝e been vaccinated, but there are days when聽as we all know聽Lockdown is just gruelling.

It鈥檚 become a marathon as opposed to a sprint, and with that I guess there has had to be a change in mindset, but that鈥檚 hard to accept too.

I think that聽in a crisis there鈥檚 a certain energy that can drive us through, but when the crisis becomes long term 鈥� like a chronic illness 鈥� my own personal experience has shown me that it has to be managed differently. But it can be really hard to shift the mind towards acceptance that this is our world for a longer period than we had anticipated.

We聽don鈥檛 know how long Lockdown will be. I鈥檓 growing more accepting to the thought that perhaps our world is forever changed (although that thought by itself is hard).

What I do believe though, as the Qur鈥檃n teaches, is that God will never burden a soul with more that it can bear. And believing that I will not be tested beyond my limits, gives me strength to carry on.

So somehow, I firmly believe, that we can all get through this, supporting each other hopefully, however hard and however many tears are shed in the garden centre!