Does anyone NOT feel like it's the end of times and everything is going to be shit forever right now?

[norunningwithscizzuhz]

I mean according to MN I might as well drive off a bridge right now because a) i live in a London flat so no one will ever want to buy it and I will be in negative equity this time next year b) I work in the arts so I'll never be able to work again and I should retrain as a plumber instead c) there will never be a covid 19 vaccine and even if there is one it won't work properly d) brexit means that everything will basically be shit in the UK forever

Don't get me wrong, everything is pretty rubbish right now but could we maybe dispense with the relentless doom and gloom? Otherwise what's to live for, seriously?

[Poopoodidoo]

I'm with you OP. We will get through this and learn to live with it. I realise I'm lucky as I prefer my own company and am able to WFH (although according to Myers Briggs I'm an extrovert) I'm also a pragmatist. I've lived through worse times as a child, this isn't going to knock me down, and if it does I'll just get up again.

[BogRollBOGOF]

I'm down and worn out with it. I know it's not forever, but I can't see respite over the winter and I'm a summer person. I also found last winter hard with 9 months of constant rain and localised flooding before this all started.

I just want to sleep until Easter.

I need to go to the garden centre and plant up some pots with spring bulbs but anything like that takes so much psyching up at the moment.

I hope we've learned to open up promptly next spring and live well next summer and hopefully there will be enough developments by then to avoid all this shit all over again. Too much time was wasted this summer when the going was good and we're already too burned out for round 2.

It's not forever. The human spirit is too sociable to keep being quashed like this.

[LittleLapwing]

I really do think that people need to be more resilient though.
I say this as someone with anxiety, stress and PTSD. I find simple things very difficult and stressful at times. So I do understand.
But life changed when I realised that I just needed to be stronger, try harder and stop feeling sorry for myself. No one else could do it for me.

Being positive is an effort, but like any other skill the more you practice the better you get.

[Isadora2007]

It's my young adult kids I feel sorry for. This is a shit time for them all right.

Disagree. Maybe it’s good for them to realise life isn’t just about nights out and parties etc? Won’t do them any harm. My adult son has been furloughed then lost his job. New job in a bar for just a few weeks before the pubs all shut again... he’s taking the time to enjoy his hobbies and learn to bake and cook while job searching again. No bad thing for them to find resilience and other hobbies and interests.

[LittleLapwing]

@Isadora2007

It's my young adult kids I feel sorry for. This is a shit time for them all right.

Disagree. Maybe it’s good for them to realise life isn’t just about nights out and parties etc? Won’t do them any harm. My adult son has been furloughed then lost his job. New job in a bar for just a few weeks before the pubs all shut again... he’s taking the time to enjoy his hobbies and learn to bake and cook while job searching again. No bad thing for them to find resilience and other hobbies and interests.

Absolutely agree!

[norunningwithscizzuhz]

You can't really blame people for not having resilience when posters on this site are telling them they will never be able to sell their homes, food prices will increase 40% due to brexit and there will never be a covid vaccine

Those posters aren't displaying a lack of resilience, they're revelling in making other people panic. They're the ones I've got the issue with.

[Dee1975]

I do feel we should all start to look at positives but it’s hard when doom and gloom everywhere!
You will sell your flat op. Even if prices go down it won’t be forever. Covid won’t be distrupting our life’s forever. Arts will come back with a bang. People haven’t stopped needing somewhere to live, or enjoying the arts. Things are just paused at the moment. Stay positive :-)

[Shizzlestix]

Loved lockdown. I binged a couple of box sets, had one cross word with the DH only. Not much changed for us, tbh. We aren’t big social animals. I’m working outside of the house, as is he, both full time. We walk the dog, I do the horse, nothing different from the usual, really. I’m aware and incredibly grateful that we have jobs that are secure. I’m not so secretly delighted that I don’t have to travel 5 hours to see family. 😳

[AlternativePerspective]

It’s not only the doom and gloom posts, it’s the fact that people are being criticised for not being negative.

In fact I’m surprised you haven’t yet had a response from someone saying something along the lines of “well it’s all very well for you OP, but you’ll see, I’ll be right and the human race as we know it will cease to exist and we’re all going to die...”.

Life is different right now is all.

And truth is we’re all going to die of something....

[Harleyflynn]

it’s not only the doom and gloom posts, it’s the fact that people are being criticised fornotbeing negative.

Yes I find that too.

[GoldenOmber]

I think for some people it's a coping mechanism. It's easier to not have any hope of anything getting better ever at all, and then you don't have to worry about being disappointed? But I don't understand the focus on making everyone else all doom-filled too, what's even the point of it.

And so many of these posters are the ones who've already made predictions which didn't come about. Lockdown will last at least a year, nope. Schools won't go back until after Christmas, nope. No hope of a vaccine for five years - well, there's still no vaccine yet, but several seem to be getting close enough that even the doomsayers have gone from "there won't be a vaccine" to "well there'll be a vaccine but it won't work very well."

It's shit in many ways, but it won't last for ever, it'll get better.

[LaurieFairyCake]

There's always climate death to look forward to...

Our children likely won't live to old age

[Therarestone]

Right there with you OP.

Yes it's shit now, it won't be forever. I avoid the continuous doom and gloom posts. Often they are just someone getting it all off their chest though rather than them actually thinking life is over.

[Harleyflynn]

LaurieFairyCake proving op's point there

[GoldenOmber]

Fucking hell, it's like Eeyore's been on a Thomas Hardy binge.

[OldLeatherSuitcase]

Love this thread!

In general I've been trying to stay positive though I had a gloomy day today - I came on MN to cheer myself up but found so much doom and gloom it made me feel worse!

I have no job and am finding job hunting hard, I'm also feeling lonely as DH is mega busy for a few weeks so not available at all, but despite this I'd really rather try and stay positive, make daily goals for myself, try and focus on what I can do, and what I do have. It's not always easy but I try.

[jakor]

I definitely agree that some posters seem to relish that we are doomed, which is weird.

Covid wise & lockdown wise I'm ok, just take each day as it comes & try & find the positive. I'm a key worker so not at home but at least my job is quite secure.

I am a little bit anxious about the economy though. It wasn't exactly in the best shape pre Covid but the pandemic & increased wfh opportunities are going to be devastating to some. I personally wouldn't buy a London flat or any property if it was a short term move but it's cyclical.

[jakor]

But things will not be shit forever.

[everythingisginandroses]

All the catastrophising is ridiculous, and yes, some posters seem to enjoy it. When I was recovering from Covid back in spring/early summer I found a bit of levity on some of the anti-dementor threads, but they are no longer to my taste. I think a lot of people are just bored, tbh, and venting their frustration in alternating howls of "We have just got to GET BACK TO NORMAL!" and "Everything is shit, it's a terrible time to be alive!" Someone earlier said that enjoying lockdown in any way is "arrogant" Some other bright spark opined that fear is "destroying our whole civilisation" - WTF?

I am trying to resist the temptation to say helpful stuff like "I appreciate you currently have Covid and you are saying it's no big deal - how many days in are you? You know, many of us dip and feel a lot worse before we feel better, just saying" or, for End of Days Crew: "Steady on, we're not living in the siege of Leningrad, chaps". Ah well, nothing lasts forever.

[AcornAutumn]

@norunningwithscizzuhz

I don't know anyone IRL who is as pessimistic as MN is. And I know multiple people in the arts who have no work at all right now and no prospect of work.

How are they managing for money? I’ve lost the plot on what’s being paid for those in the arts.

You’ll sell your flat, I’m sure.

[Harleyflynn]

How are they managing for money? I’ve lost the plot on what’s being paid for those in the arts.

I'm doing part time admin work, a couple of friends of mine are doing bookkeeping, one is doing deliveries for ocado

It's a dire time for the arts but none of us think it will be like this forever

[AcornAutumn]

Harley glad you and your friends have work.

[Greektome]

@charliebear78

Everything will be ok in the end,
If it's not ok,it's not the end

Sorry, but that's superstitious rubbish. Be realistic about how bad things are, but look for ways to improve your own life. And maybe engage politically, because our government is making our lives far more difficult than they need to be. Things will get much worse because of Brexit.

[Classicbrunette]

I loved lockdown.. I am more of an introvert and I got on with my hobbies and watch shit films and box sets. And I’m sure it’s true that this pandemic will pass as all the others did. We have better means this time to reduce the deaths too.

Let the moaners whinge, they have lost jobs, Loved ones, I feel very sorry for them, I really hope things get better for them soon.

[PercyKirke]

FFS don't read the Guardian OP!