On the scale of one-to-ten, one being not restrictive and ten being complete isololation and lock-down, my family and I would probably be an eight on the scale of restrictive criteria for staying safe during the Covid pandemic. We've kept our pod small. We've restricted our interactions - no groups larger than nine. No indoor dining outside our home. Curbside every opportunity we get.

That has naturally led to some FOMO. Friends are getting together and doing things that we're opting out of, which can be challenging and sad. I recently heard a fantastic twist on the concept of FOMO which is JOMO - the Joy Of Missing Out.

JOYS OF OPTING OUT:

More purposeful leisure time. Reading, running, camping, trying new things.
More time with family. Cooking, eating, playing games, and watching movies together.
Less stress of running around and balancing schedules.
Less anxiety and worry about catching or spreading the virus.
More time to create. I've filmed and edited two videos a week since July.
Connecting with old friends via phone or video chat.

A lot of healthy diet advice suggests changing your approach to food. Don't restrict yourself from eating certain unhealthy foods - that feels too much like you are depriving yourself. Instead, want more healthy foods. It's not, "I can't eat that because I'm on a diet," but rather, "I choose not to eat that because I prefer this instead."

That approach has worked well for me in turning FOMO into JOMO. "I'm choosing not to attend" instead of "I can't go."