Outside of the health disparities, 5G conspiracies, and untimely fatalities. COVID-19 is sharing something else with us, TIME.
Posted April 10, 2020
"The comfort of ignoring the unknown is the same comfort that makes us stay in situations long past due."
It’s easy to be consumed by the negativity in the media. Society can be sick and twisted at times when they yearn for conspiracies and downfalls of issues because there is too much responsibility in the truth. If any one of us would have predicted that this pandemic would happen, would we have avoided it all together or properly prepare for it? I'd hope you would have said prepared for it because trying 4 different stores to have no luck finding toilet paper was never one of my 2020 goals. That's the thing about life though, we're not always in a position to be prepared. Some things you just have to figure out as you go.
Culturally we don’t like to address or acknowledge issues unless it’s looking dead at us in our face. The comfort of ignoring the unknown is the same comfort that makes us stay in situations long past due. Not all of us were raised to embrace pain and struggle. Resilience is what is often taught. If you got really good at that then you would move on to the numbness that follows. Maybe that’s why negativity is embraced because the truth has been always too good to be true and negativity has the power to evoke emotions that we forgot may exist.
There's a parallel to the coronavirus and everyday life as we knew it. If we're sticking to the ideology of truth then at some point we all encountered a person, place, or thing that gave us horrible symptoms (depression, anxiety, despair, etc.). We sped through every yellow light that situation gave us until we had no choice but to stop at the red light. That's the light that causes us to reflect on our past and future decisions.
Since this pandemic I decided to pick up a book for the first time in almost three years.
I’ve been reading A Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck for what started off as hype but I later realized was a reflection of the many therapy sessions I sat in being resilient. In front of me was a book speaking to my anxiety, my failures, my shortcomings, my denials, and my fears. A truth that didn’t know my story like the others did. It wasn’t a situation where I could pick and choose what parts of me I was willing to share. The reflection of everything I read in the book always came back to one thing; that problems birth happiness and problems are inevitable.
Not everything that feels good is good for us and not everything that feels bad is bad for us. This pandemic looks different for everyone but the common denominator for us all is an increase in time, literally and metaphorically. The media speaks about the time it will take to develop and test vaccines but there is little mention of the benefits of this time for self. Physically are distance has been limited but our spiritual connection and to our love ones is unmeasurable.
The coronavirus has given us a sense of time. Unfortunately for some it was a shortage on time through death. For others it maximized the time we always complained we didn’t have. We’ve finally been given the time we didn’t have to check in on loved ones, to spend with our kids, to take back our health, to purge our houses, and the list goes on. We have the most time that we’ve probably have had in years.
For me COVID-19 has offered me time to get to know myself in a way I did not see myself before. I've been chasing my 17 year old body and 21 year old hustle for years. Constantly making every year "my year" to make a comeback. At 27, I am just now deciding to let go of of that chase. I am embarrassing this new chapter of my life that's not perfect but has grown maturity and wisdom over the years. I have been reading more, cooking more, working out more, meditating more, praying more, and most importantly loving me more.
Some ideas to maximize your time
BREATHE!! We cannot do a thing if we have not even stopped to take time and properly breathe. A great way to practice breathing is through meditation. I downloaded Calm from the app store but I know others who prefer YouTube.
Learn to cook! If you give a man a fish he east for a day. If you teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime. Take out is somewhat questionable right now because we don't know who is handling our food (technically even before this too). I find cooking therapeutic. My favorite go to's are Pinterest and HelloFresh subscription. HelloFresh offers a variety of meals that's shipped to you. You do not have to go grocery shopping because they provide the groceries for you and directions on how to cook it. If it's not in your budget weekly, you can skip up to 5 weeks in advance. Just remember to skip it or you'll end up with a surprise box at your door.
Zoom Happy Hour! Because it's always 5pm somewhere. Zoom is another group video platform like Google Hangout, Facetime, and Whats App. Whatever platform you like, gather the gang with you favorite wine or cocktail. Being quarantined doesn't have to be solitary confinement. It can be a new way to have unlimited drinks while saving on Uber expenses.
Dust that book off! I know I had to. I probably own around 50 books so there's no excuse why the majority of them were never read. As I mentioned I read The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck and now I'm on to You Are A Badass. Why so much vulgar titles? Because they speak to my soul.
Workout! I am not a fitness guru by any means but I know without intentionally working out my exercise would consist of kitchen and bathroom runs. Forget sharing Netflix passwords, share BeachBody on Demand accounts because that T-25 is a life saver right now. Don't have the hook up? That's okay. They have a 14-day free trial. Also walking around the neighborhood is good as well.
Spring Cleaning! Get off Tik-Tok and let's try a new challenge. Yup, purge that outfit you have not worn in two years because you hope to fit in it again. That pile of mail sitting in the corner, yeah let's get rid of that too. It's a great time to stick to one spring tradition that won't get cancelled.