A few months before 2020, I bet everyone of us has already laid out plans for the coming year. Given quite a number of long weekends, w e already have a good idea for our vacation plans, how will we utilize our work leaves and where will we go during our holidays. Then enter 2020. January proved to be not a good start of the year. There were volcanoes erupting, celebrities dying and yes of course Covid-19 pandemic . Covid-19 pandemic which is caused by the Coronavirus resulted for most of us to be locked down in the comforts of our own homes. Employees were advised to work from home and stay away from the public to contain the spread of the virus. Unfortunately for some, their livelihood was taken away because working from home is not feasible and their company has no means to sustain the workforce. Experts say that the world will be going to a period of depression and many more jobs will be inevitably ...
A few months before 2020, I bet everyone of us has already laid out plans for the coming year. Given quite a number of long weekends, we already have a good idea for our vacation plans, how will we utilize our work leaves and where will we go during our holidays. Then enter 2020. January proved to be not a good start of the year. There were volcanoes erupting, celebrities dying and yes of course Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid-19 pandemic which is caused by the Coronavirus resulted for most of us to be locked down in the comforts of our own homes. Employees were advised to work from home and stay away from the public to contain the spread of the virus. Unfortunately for some, their livelihood was taken away because working from home is not feasible and their company has no means to sustain the workforce. Experts say that the world will be going to a period of depression and many more jobs will be inevitably gone.
This scenario has got all of us thinking, how can we survive on this? Many what ifs are running in our head because all of us have responsibility to take care of. We have bills to pay, family to support, and basically just managing our day to day living expenses. I don’t want to put more negativity in our thoughts and focus of the positives that we should not be ignoring. If we solely focus on the negatives, we will be in a state of panic and will lead to emotional depression.
I am a person who prefers to usually stay indoors but from time to time I go out and have a date with my husband. Currently we are both on working from home and my husband is at Stay At Home Notice and he’s not allowed to go out for quite sometime, so I also choose to stay at home with him. We’ve been inside the house for nearly a month now and just looking out the window to have a glimpse on how life is going-on on the outside. I know I’m not the only one who is getting bored right now. Nobody wants this scenario to happen, but we must sacrifice and do our part for this unfortunate set-up to end.
During this quarantine period, let’s think of the positive and be appreciative of the little things that we have. Let’s focus on how we can be productive and happy despite every thing that is happening.
Here are some of the things that we can now do during these trying times to keep our sanity in check.
1. Be Thankful Everyday
Let us be thankful for the gift of life. If you are reading this blog, then you are certainly alive. Unfortunately, as of now there are more than 300,000 cases of fatalities related to the Covid-19 virus. Life is beautiful when you wake up every morning with a peaceful heart and mind also knowing that your love ones are safe and still here with you. Our lives are not perfect but let’s be appreciative of what we have and be thankful for it.
Let us be thankful for our partner who is always willing to do everything just to make sure we are safe. I want to thank my husband for taking care of me. He is always here by my side and making me feel safe and secure. Thank you for always being my “safety blanket”.
Let us be thankful for people who never forget us even though we haven’t seen them or spoken to them for a long time. Those people with just a few words from them make us feel happy and appreciated. Thank you for saying “how are you?” and “be safe”. Those words are enough to make me happy. My love for you guys will never change. I am also just here, never leaving even though we’re half way across the world.
Let us also be thankful for all the front liners. No matter how difficult it is for them to leave their family, they still risk their lives every day and don’t hesitate to give service for us to be safe and healthy. My never-ending gratitude is with you. Thank you for your sacrifices.
2. Be Productive everyday
What will I cook today? What movie or series will I watch? How can I stay fit? I have no doubt you have these questions everyday during this period. When you ask yourself these types of questions, you are already making your day productive.
Be productive in your own way. If there is anything you are curious about, have a crack at it. The feeling of self-accomplishment is very satisfying. There are a lot of things you can do to be productive. Here are some of it.
- This is family time! Even if your family members are not with you on the same house, you can organize a virtual reunion with them and just have a chat to catch up with how things are going on their side. I’m sure they are also dying to talk to other people aside from the ones they have in the same house.
- This is the time to be in the kitchen. It is a good opportunity to cook and dine with your love ones. Surprise them by serving them by food you have prepared. You’ll be amazed how easy it is and you might discover your potential in the kitchen. Easy to make recipes are available on the net for your reference. I saw many of my friends are into baking now a days. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them transferring to a new line of work after these lockdowns.
- Say hello to your friends. I’m sure there are a lot of friends we want to keep in touch but just don’t have the time to do it. This is the period we can say hello to them. A simple “hello” and “how are you doing” will be appreciated.
- This is the time to clean your room. Organize you closet, your room, or your kitchen. If you’re a fan of Marie Kondo, this is the time to see your old belongings and feel if there is still a spark when you see them. Throw or put in a box all the things that you don’t need anymore. I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who would appreciate new things from you. Old clothes, books, kitchen items, and other items that you are not using might be interesting to other people now. I used to be a sentimental person that’s why I have a lot of clutter inside the house. This is the time to let go.
- During trips we took a lot of photos. I mean, really a lot! This is the time we can organize these photos. You can separate it per folder according to venues or events. You can back up them to a separate folder or in a cloud. You can also make DIY albums or scrapbook. Use your creativity.
3. Be happy
I know it’s a bit difficult to be happy in this time of crisis and uncertainty. Especially if we are heavily affected in our jobs and if someone we know is in a bad medical situation. How can we overcome this feeling of anxiety and stress? We can distract ourselves from the negativity and focus on other things. Let’s take care of our health and body. A healthy body is the best defense against any sickness. A healthy body makes our mind happy.
Be happy that we are still alive. Be happy that even though our livelihood is affected, we can still eat three times a day. We don’t need to be as rich as Jeff Bezos to be happy. We just need to be contented on what we have. Never compare things with others. Contentment is the key to happiness.
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