I Got Covid

I was starting to feel very tired on Friday night and woke up Saturday with congestion and more fatigue. I would normally write it off as a cold, or flu, but my wife said I should get tested… you know for what. (Always listen to your wife!)

I did get tested and I was Positive+ (they always put the little + sign so you don’t misread the results).

First of all, I have been vaccinated and boosted and the symptoms are no worse than a typical cold for me. The fatigue was most intense on Saturday, so I didn’t have the energy to write anything coherent. Perhaps it would have been interesting for me to write something and see what came out of the fog of my brain at that time? Who knows.

The first thoughts that went through my mind when I got the results were worries and concerns:

How did I get this?

Did my wife get it too? Did I infect anyone else? Family, friends, coworkers?

What will happen at work if I have to be isolated for 5 days?

What if I get Long Covid and suffer symptoms for months?

All of the above are what the Buddhists would call added Suffering.

As for my concerns, these are the realities:

It doesn’t really matter how I got it. I just have it.

My wife shows no symptoms and we are masking and sleeping in separate rooms.

There is nothing I can do now if I infected anyone else. Now I need to isolate and take the necessary precautions with others.

I can work from home. I have full access to all my accounts from my home computer. So, not much of a problem.

We will have to see what develops with the symptoms, but I am feeling better each day. So, I am not too worried.

It is typical for the mind to go to the worst case scenarios right away, bringing up concerns that we have no control over, and worries about the future that we can’t be sure will ever arise. Our habitual tendency is to anticipate danger, protect ourselves, and ensure our welfare. This can often lead to added suffering, trying to protect ourselves from events that will never occur.

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” – Mark Twain.

Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.”

Our best course is to follow the medical advice, take care of ourselves in the present moment with rest and medication if necessary, and if (I should probably say, “when”) the worries arise, treat them like the distractions that come up during our meditation.

Release the clinging or grip on the worry or concern. Give it some space.

Relax the tension in the body and mind around that concern.

Smile, to bring a sense of lightness and uplifted mind back to the task at hand.