This past week was when my family would have spent a day at the Wisconsin State Fair, one of our favorite annual traditions.

No cream puffs this year. 😔 Yet another loss in a long line of losses thanks to the jerkhead that is COVID-19.

Kim has been busy on the phones talking to clients who are booking our virtual experience for their organizations and teams. One emotion that has been consistent with the people she’s been talking with is grief. Parents have lamented the losses their children have experienced, whether it’s a senior year, a graduation, the first year of kindergarten, or the first year of college. This pandemic has taken so much from us – both physically and financially – along with weddings, funerals, concerts, and a proper baseball season.

All of this loss has given Adultitis an upper hand. Kim and I decided to turn the tables by going on offense, taking a day trip to Sheboygan. We ate outdoors, played in Lake Michigan, ran up and down sand dunes, and indulged in ice cream cones. It was a great day.

Well, not for Adultitis.

In a year that has featured so much loss, it’s normal to fear losing even more. It can feel like we have no control. But that’s simply not the case.

It’s time to stop playing defense, passively protecting ourselves from losses. It’s time to go on offense against Adultitis, just like one of the parents Kim spoke to last week. With her daughter disappointed about prom having been canceled, a handful of parents got together and organized a prom at home, complete with a dance floor and fancy dinner.

It’s been a tough year, but Adultitis doesn’t automatically get to win. You can strike back and stack up some wins by going on offense.

For you, maybe that looks like starting a brand new family tradition or routine.

Maybe it means skipping the drama of the school year and opting for a tinker year of homeschooling instead.

Maybe it means doing one small random act of kindness a day for the rest of the year.

Maybe it means picking up a bible and getting acquainted with some verses that remind you who’s really in control.

Maybe it means taking advantage of a unique opportunity that this pandemic inadvertently made possible.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go on offense against Adultitis for the rest of the year.

Will it erase the grief or offset the pain of what’s already been lost? Not even a little.

But it will keep you occupied in a way that makes it more likely that ten years from now, you’ll look back and realize that THIS was the year – the one disrupted by that stupid little virus – in which your life changed for the better, or that beloved family tradition began, or that magical memory was made.

Adultitis, your time is up.