"This, too, shall pass." Unsolicited advice from someone older than dirt. [View all]

[Atticus]

First, do NOT interpret this as minimizing the seriousness of the coronavirus. I am 71 and sincerely believe this is the greatest danger we have faced within my lifetime. BUT, for the overwhelming majority of us, it will have minimal impact on our health and money lost can be replaced.

During WWII, American cargo ships headed for Europe were often attacked and sunk by German U-boats and surviving crew members were often afloat for days in crowded lifeboats. With little or no food or water, merchant seamen had very little control over their fate: either a rescue ship would save them or---they would die.
And, many did die; some from injuries and some from thirst. Some drowned and some were eaten by sharks. Some of them---often the youngest and strongest---"just died".

Older men, you see, had already experienced tragedy in their lives. They had lost friends and loved ones. They had known the pain of injury and illness. They had, for various reasons, been in situations where they thought all was lost---and yet the sun rose the next morning, life went on around them and, eventually, so did they.
In the lifeboats, they did what little they could actually do---rationed supplies, treated the wounded and posted a lookout---and then slept as much as possible.

For the younger guys, this was their first brush with death; their first friends killed; the first time their fate seemed totally beyond their control. They scanned the horizon around the clock. They replayed in their minds the horrors they had just witnessed and---they worried and worried and worried. And, some, totally exhausted after days of despair, "just died" while the guys with the gray hair, extra pounds---and scars---were alive to be rescued days later.

Do everything that you can do to keep safe. Be smart. Understand that "all you can do" is all you can do. Once you've done that, read, binge-watch comedies, write letters---and get plenty of sleep.

Later.