Monday Motivation, 4.13.2020

Written by: Dawn Paciocco

Every Monday, The Rogers-Long Team meets for one of its two weekly meetings. The Monday meeting always ends with “Monday Motivation” in which a few minutes are spent listening to one team member presenting a quote, a quick reading from a book, a scene from a movie, or anything else they find motivating to provide a “spark” to the whole team on a Monday morning.

We have all been living this “new norm” quarantined life for about a month now. Working from home. Kids home schooling. 6 feet apart.  It is all very strange. My family leads a go-go-go life. We rarely get a chance to all eat together during the week. I am pretty sure there are some nights where Harper & Mason don’t even get to see Landon because he’s up after they leave, and he doesn’t get home from practice until after they have already gone to bed.   It has been great to get back to the family dinners around the table, family walks with the dog,  the bike rides, having nowhere to go, all of the things our go-go-go life has caused us to miss out on.  However, after being in the movie Groundhog Day for a month, there are parts to this “new norm” that are scary.

I keep kidding that my resume keeps getting longer. The cook, the lunch lady,  the maid, the teacher, the Client Care Coordinator, the referee, my newest addition to the list is a nail technician.  I actually lost my job as my kids Uber Driver due to the Coronavirus. Some of these jobs listed I had before coronavirus hit and those jobs have become way more detailed and time consuming.  We all try and stay positive but sometimes it can all get to be overwhelming and then the anxiety can set in. 

When the Governor closed schools my heart sank and I started to cry.  What does this mean for my kids? How can I possibly teach them from home and have them ready for the next year? What are the schools going to do?  So many questions and a flood of emotions went through my head that I had to go upstairs and be alone for a bit and “get my shit together”. I can’t let my kids see me panicked. 

It’s hard to remain positive all the time with all that is going on. If you know me then you know I am a crier (happy and sad tears).  I am here to tell you that it’s ok to cry. It is ok to be scared. It is ok to be worried.  What’s not ok is for you to get stuck there. Being “stuck” at home can make your emotions go crazy, the emotions can take over and the anxiety sets in. What you HAVE TO do is find a way back to the positive.  The RLT calls it FUELING YOUR ENERGY TANK. It’s going to get low, heck you maybe coasting on fumes some days.  THAT IS OK! Find your way to refill your tank. Take a walk, listen to music, call that friend that can always make you smile. Develop something that you know you can always go to if you need a recharge or to refuel.  Somedays that maybe harder for others, but you are not alone.  We are all living this “new life”, and I really do believe we are all in this together.  So if any of the RLT Army needs help refueling their energy tanks, I know 7 people who are never too busy to help you refuel….(or your referrals ?)

Dawn Paciocco joined The Rogers-Long Team in September 2018 as the team’s Client Care Coordinator. Dawn spent 17 years in the financial services industry and much like Stacy, was first a client of Ben & Kevin’s before joining the team. After a couple years discussing the possibility of Dawn joining, The RLT excitedly brought her on due to her fun-loving attitude and belief in the team’s mission to build an army of people that does good, becomes better, and strives to be the best.