THE ATTITUDE IS GRATITUDE By Sara Stepa

Hey Party People,  Another week, another Monday. We’ve been living in our new normal and upturned realities for 2-3 weeks (it's really hard to count how long its been, I mean is it actually Monday?). Each day when I wake up, I don’t know what I’m going to be feeling. Will I feel positive? Will I feel anxious? Will I feel overwhelmed? Will I feel hope? I don’t know, so I continue to take it one day at a time. As a new week begins we again don’t know what to expect and all of us are feeling a wide spread of emotions. I feel incredibly blessed and grateful that I can still work,   and work safely from the comforts of my home. The Foundation I work for is still operating and “business as usual.” My dad and my brother are still working. My family is fine. But I can't help but think about so many others who are not fine or who are working on the front lines of this crisis (Doctors, nurses, our government). My heart hurts when I think about all the individuals whose livel...

Hey Party People,  We are ALL experiencing new things daily! I honestly don’t know where my mind will be when I wake up each day. This week I’ve hit snooze or turned off my alarm more than once because…. Well, my bed just felt better, it felt safe. Anybody else with me? Right now, as a collective, we are still processing and adapting to what is going on in our world. Many of us are still in shock and are grieving or just beginning to grieve the things we lost and the things we’ve missed out on. Imagine the high school students who don’t get to walk the stage at their graduation. Or the bride whose wedding was canceled. The loved ones we have lost or may lose. The prolonged impacts on our economy, our health care system, and our children’s education. Collectively we will experience a level of loss we have never experienced before. You’re probably wondering ok Stepa, what’s the point. You’re just bringing me down… My point is twofold. First, we will get through this...

Hey Party People,  Who else keeps hearing this phrase, “the new normal”? I continue to hear it and even say it sometimes myself to try and wrap my head around the days ahead. What we need to remember though is that this virus and this uncertainty won’t last forever. It will pass, we just need to get through it, and get through it together. In the meantime, as we adjust to the new normal of social distancing, working from home with kids and pets and food as distractions, cycles of anxiety, or just the uncertainty of today's world…. We need to remember always, that we still have today. There are many things going on around us that we cannot control, but there are still things that we can. Our Mindset . Pay attention to the thoughts and phrases you play in your head. Are you saying, “We don’t have enough toilet paper! We need 72 more rolls!” or are you saying, “this is all a hoax, I don’t know what everyone is so worried about,” or are you fighting and saying, “d...

Hey Party People! A pandemic is upon us... but wtf does that actually mean? On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced COVID-19 as a global pandemic launching us into unprecedented times. And if any of you are like me you had to google the word pandemic… what did that MEAN? The past week has shown us a pandemic is not something to take lightly...  Google defines it as, an outbreak of disease prevalent over a whole country or the world. Well, that didn’t sound good…. So I began preparing myself and right now in this moment I believe positivity and a sense of community will get us through this. So since this proclamation, our governments have shared new announcements almost daily. While I could go through these, I don’t think a reminder of these will do us any good. Instead, I’m going to share a little about how I made it through my first week of social distancing and working remotely. Monday – Today I worked in the office, solo. And it almost felt...