Treat it as a game

ABBY: For the first time in three decades we have been cancelled from one of our reservations at one of our favorite casinos. I don’t think we ever cancelled our casino time.

CINDY: Actually we didn’t do it; it was that nasty coronavirus that caused our casino to close its doors until the pandemic abates. That was a wise choice on their part…

ABBY: Or the government’s part.

CINDY: Yes, the government’s part. But the casino had to close as it gets thousands of people a day in there and the crowds are large and it could be hard to avoid contact with other people – a lot of other people. So what do we do as we are both stuck at home for long hours? How should we treat this period of time in our lives and the lives of our fellow citizens?

ABBY: I think we have to look at our situations during this time in some ways how we look at playing casino games. We pick the best strategy and go with it.

CINDY: Look at your emotions as your money. You have to protect your money in any casino game you play. This is the time to practice good money management. You have to protect yourself and make sure you are in charge of your inner state. You can’t allow yourself to lose control because then you are making what’s happening even worse than what’s actually happening. This mess we are in needs good money management.

ABBY: Next, we proceed to look at the best playing practices. How do we do that? We follow the advice of the experts; just as Cindy and I followed the advice of the great gaming experts to learn the best strategies and how to not get carried away betting our money. The best experts are the medical men and women who have laid out what the strategy must be. And therefore follow that strategy.

CINDY: We have to avoid going on tilt. So we stay at home as much as we can. We wash our hands. We avoid crowds or as many other people as we can. If we are with other people we keep our distance. You will not be offending anyone as they should be doing the same things as you.

ABBY: There is a real emotional element here too. We can’t stand moaners and complainers in the casinos. They can make a great game become an unpleasant game. That is true of life too. I don’t want to hear people complaining about how bad everything is – we know everything is bad. You don’t have to whine about it. That doesn’t help the situation one bit; it just makes it worse.

CINDY: If you are not sick, be happy that you are not sick. If you are sick but not at death’s door, then be happy you are on your way to recovery. If it is bad for you, plenty of people are praying for you and your doctors are doing all they can to save your life.

ABBY: We have called and had conversations with our relatives and friends to let them know we are all in this together.

CINDY: Totally together!

ABBY: The coronavirus is a serious game we are playing and we must play it properly.

CINDY: Stay healthy.

ABBY: Do the right things and, yes, stay healthy.