The COVID-19 Pandemic can feel overwhelming due to uncertainty, anxiety, fear, anger, and sadness. Here’s how I’ve managed to stay driven during the pandemic. I just graduated from coding boot camp last April and was super excited and motivated to begin my job search and new life as a Software Developer. Then came a global shutdown. All the nonessential businesses in my area and most of the world closed. I even had to close my massage business. The loss of income was incredibly stressful. On top of that, I lost three family members including my father to non-COVID related illnesses. Needless to say, my job search took a backseat as I comforted my family during the period of mourning. I needed to take care of myself as well because although it felt like it was the end of the world. It wasn’t. I worked very hard in school to graduate and be a success. However, I really missed my father and had a hard time getting motivated to find a coding job. Then I remembered a time when being in high pressured stressful situations was the norm, such as when I worked as a radiographer in shock trauma. I worked the evening shift and when I arrived at the hospital I would probably see five ambulances already there and might be two more on the way. I remembered how fearless I was backed then. As soon as I saw the requests for x-rays on the computer I’d grab a portable x-ray machine and jump in the middle of the fire. I would usually offer to relieve one of my tired co-workers who had been there all day. I was really, fearless, driven, and energetic. That’s what was going to take to find a coding job or any kind of job during the pandemic. To survive life in the shock trauma unit, I had to be fearless and a team player. I remember going to the gym five days a week for yoga, meditation, and sometimes weight-lifting class. It helped prepare me mentally and physically for life in shock trauma. After a period of mourning for my father, I decided it was time to get back on track. In addition to conditioning my body it was extremely important to focus on balancing my mind and spirit too. So, I decided to get up two hours earlier than normal, before even looking at my phone which was buzzing from messages left by clients. I took my yoga mat out of the closet and put on a 20 min yoga video from YouTube followed by a 5-minute meditation. Since it had been years since I practiced, it was tough at first, but I stuck with it. The most shocking thing was how tight my muscles were. I was very flexible five years ago. It felt like five years of stiffness as I worked through the postures. I didn’t care though. I felt so good that I followed my yoga practice with meditation. It was like eating Popeye’s spinach. The amount of energy I had was incredible. l felt so happy and energetic that I immediately rewrote my resume and continued my job search. I’ve been practicing yoga every day for a while now and it has been my driving force for positive change. I’ve also been solving tech challenges on CodeWars and honing and learning new skills on Codecademy. Life is so much better. I’ve made wonderful connections on Linkedin and look forward to having life long friends and new opportunities.