Do you ever feel this will never be over?

Egaltine, this is such a great sharing thread, I don't want to start bickering.

I do think there is a balance to be had and we must protect our mental health. Some may be more robust than others. The Government permits one form of exercise a day. If we see a neighbour (at a same distance) it's OK to wave and smile? I think?

I like to think of a world with more equality. I hope one of the good things to come from this will be all of the government ministers who have have had NHS treatment will now value and see the importance of the NHS. BJ in particular. Having had his life saved, SURELY he will now see the need?

I agree Franbern that most of us will eventually catch CV and that what we are trying to do is to spread the infection so that those who need medical help can access it.

What is necessary is necessary. It just that people don’t seem to be able to tell the difference between what they want to do and what they have to do.

I have family in medicine who every day treat people who just made that trip they didn’t have to make.
Who say “but I stayed at a safe distance”.

2m isn’t safe. It reduces the risk. If you have to get food you have to. You don’t have to have visit your family or get an Easter egg to take round.

90% sounds encouraging. But my friend would include herself in that. So would several of the posters whose tales of what they’re doing leave me in despair.

Sorry Greymar. Posted before I saw yours. I’ll retreat (probably best for my own sanity anyway?)

Again, Eglantine, I agree. I started a thread called 'excuses' and was hugely castigated for it. 'But we're following the rules.' was the cry. All those people following the rules and STILL getting ill. I share your despair.

What are people getting their ideas that this will lead to a world with more equality and social justice? Sorry, - we already have a government member happily talking about how much money he, and other like him, can make from this.
More people will be much poorer over the next several years, austerity measures will hit virtually all of us (unless you are already a millionaire/billionaire). Life, as it was at the beginning of this year, will be looked back on as the halycon days.
I am really not trying to be the pessimistic - I am normally very much a 'cup is half full' person - but do have to be realistic. So many people will lose their homes, both mortgage and rented, property prices will crash (not necessarily a bad thing), many, many business, small and large will go into receivership. Many many more people will not have jobs to go back to. Prices on all important commodities will rise, and rise.
And despite all the weekly applause - I bet there will not be much of any real pay increase for any of the essential workers.
Do remember when - not very long ago - a bill was discussed in the House of Commons to raise the salaries of nurses and other NHS ancillary workers was defeated, MP's on the government benches stood and applauded that defeat

Coolgran I also felt absolutely overwhelmed last night..just came from nowhere..still dont feel okay .feeling quite down! Want to hug my daughter whose in the middle east, and her babies..when I left there in January..I wish I'd held them all tighter and longer....my son and family in Australia..I do my upmost to sound happy when on the phone to them..my two sons and their families here in the UK live quite nearby..but we cant hug ..just chat through the window...it all hurts...
Made worse by H shouting through to me all the horrendous news..at the moment I dont want to know..yes that's burying my head in the sand..but just now I need to do that..I've always been a 'doer' for everyone. thought I was strong..but I'm not...you all cant see the tears rolling down my cheeks..
Take good care all of you ??

growstuff.....what facts give you the info to say that those who are flouting the rules are supporters of this government’?
I suspect it’s your own wishful thinking coming into play.

Of course this will end, but is worrying for our health while it lasts, which is until there’s a vaccine.
I look forward to travelling around again and plan trips in my head, always better to stay positive if possible.

PoppyD, you can report them to the police.
We have similar experiences with some thoughtless 2nd homeowners not complying . Best wishes

of course it will end, in that life changes... humans adapt..
for me ,living alone, for the first time ever, and isolated.. well
it will end for me, when I die.. hope it is a quick death and not drawn out..

and no , I am NOT being negative, just a realist..

I tried to report a crowd gathering yesterday. It wasn't 'life or limb' emergency so the route to use was an online form. Which wasn't working.

I definitely have good and bad days: happier when the suns shines and we can get into the garden. At the beginning, I planned to eat well and do exercises every day: I've eaten badly ( have to eat what we can get) and only done the exercises once!
Same here with films and old TV programmes: already thinking 'Why aren't they socially distancing!'
Do I think it will end? Yes, of course. Even China has started to withdraw some its most stringent measures: all things will pass...

My main worry right now is running out of staple foods and being forced to go out for shopping. Upto now, my husband and I (both somewhat vulnerable) have not had to venture further than our little garden in weeks. (We have been exercising in our house.) Feels very dangerous outside. But it's getting harder to find online slots for grocery deliveries. I do feel very sorry for older and vulnerable people who live alone. They must feel extremely isolated.

Greymar Thanks for the thread, its good to have a place to express feelings and fears.
I had a ticking off for being negative, her word, because I said I wouldn't be sending Easter cards after hearing about the situation for postal workers.
I feel slighted but over sensitive at the same time. Typical of me.

Can relate to everything everyone's saying. There's just no point of certainty for us to anchor on. My partner and I are Grecophiles and wonder whether we'll ever get to the islands again - then I tell myself, 'Don't be ridiculous, of course we will'. But, of course, there's no OF COURSE about it. I do have the awareness of living through significant history and that life will never be quite as we knew it, again. But what will we learn from it? Scammers are scamming, Brexit is going ahead (and Brexiteers will blame economic damage on the pandemic, not their short-sightedness), and the impact of the virus is affecting the poor and vulnerable (especially refugees) far harder than the wealthy. This is a time for compassion, imagination and mutual support. But I think we all know the people who'll opt out.

Interesting. My mother, sister and myself all felt quite low yesterday morning. I think the novelty has worn off and the death rate is still increasing and all of us are feeling afraid of the unknown.

We have several young families who think this is a holiday and all go out for walks together. Yesterday one of the young mum gave me a death stare as I looked out of "my" sitting room window!!! I feel also that we will all get it at some point. Its so scary and I don't think it's ever going to end. Stay safe and sane. X

We are loving lock down - my main concern is if one of becomes ill with something else, we may not get treatment

This too shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone. But it will pass.

I think we ll have to find our own ways of coping.
I wake up and lie in bed and try to envisage the things I will do today:
I will plant 2 more types of tomato seeds and 3 of peppers in jiffi plugs;
put runner beans and climbing french beans in soak for planting in fibre pots tomorrow;
make butternut squash and rice soup for lunch;
start my new applique picture.
My other half does the opposite:
Shall we discuss what we're not going to do today (he said):
We're not going to visit a National Trust house today;
we won't go to the coast or the peak district;
we wont take a picnic in the picnic basket;
we won't go for afternoon tea.

We all have to find our own way.

Do you think I could get a refund on my diary?

I worry that life will never be the same again and that there will be a new normal. Us boomers were the lucky generation what sort of world will my baby grandchildren know?

Franbern - it is up to everyone who identifies what you do to spread the word, to 'out' the people who have sacked workers (e.g. Tim Martin of Wetherspoons fame), to identify people who crow about making money from the crisis, to name and shame the Tory MPs who voted against frontline workers' pay rises in 2017 (including Matt Hancock, Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson - Rees Mogg goes without saying), to expose those in privileged positions who flouted government advice (e.g. Stanley Johnson travelling from London to his 500 acre second home near Exmoor). We have an excellent Opposition leader in Keir Starmer who will, I think, voice many of these things for us. But we have to back him. It was pointed out to me that he was wise not to join a Unity government because while he can still support this one in its few positive moves, he can hold it to account now and when this crisis - eventually - draws to something like a close. He is the only one to have challenged them on an exit strategy, for instance. There was a bit of blinking and you could almost hear them say 'A WHAT?'. It's time to start thinking imaginatively and positively. Courage mon brave!

Share your feelings...live in block of flats so no garden and communal gardens defined as public space so we can't use. Too many people on the streets so hard to walk ...so all difficult ...but I am blessed cos everyone I know and love is still well. Just taking one day at a time avoiding watching the awlful news except the press conference. I wish you all courage and health.

I agree so many people live in the past or rush headlong into the future. Be safe in the now. Tomorrow is a mystery yesterday is history there is no guarantee that there will b tomorrow. Another saying I find apt atm; man, while reaching for the stars, forgets the flowers at his feet.

Uh oh...it's wandering off into politics.

i think we all know " be positive" is a good aim. Not easy.