So…What Can We Do?
In order to manage ourselves during this confusing time, I find that it is helpful to be active and creative. After all, we do not want to waste this free time that we have. I realize that, while it may be a choice to be active, being “creative” may not appear to be a choice. It often appears as a gift – you either have it or you don’t. With that in mind, we can focus on the “active” part. As many of us may have had the blues from what we have been seeing or hearing for the past 2 months, we may have been feeling the effects physically. I once thought I was sick and in pain for consecutive days. So I decided to stay in bed during those days. However, I noticed that whenever I forced myself out of bed, the feeling disappeared almost instantaneously. All what seemed like pain was gone as soon as I got out of bed, either to walk to the living room or to the backyard. And don’t get me started on when I took long walks around the neighborhood! I remember cheesing like a Cheshire cat during one of those walks while listening to #NoRubber. My body and mind felt different. The air was fresher. My imaginative juices were flowing again and I was grateful I took the walk. The following week, I felt like the days were extraordinarily long until I got out of bed and walked again. So, many times, the feeling is all in our minds. I realized that the more time I spent in bed thinking something was off, the more my body felt weaker. Do yourself a favour and stretch your legs once in a while. Not only is the change of scenery good for the body, it will it help expand your mind as well. You owe yourself the chance to feel better – especially if it will not cost you a lot to do so.
Another thing we can do is try to figure out a happy medium of attending to our daily responsibilities and ourselves. That is to say, practice the act of attending to work/school and ourselves equally (yes, it’s the famous work-life balance).
It is a balancing act that must be practiced AND mastered. One cannot be favored at the expense of the other. As we have seen, we should not let our body or mind suffer if we can prevent it. At the same time, ain’t nobody else gon’ pay the bills if we don’t do our jobs. Neither will anyone sympathize if we slack on school work. It is important to do this so that we have something to look forward to as soon as one of the two starts to get “monotonous”/boring. We must also be careful that we do not overwork ourselves to the point where we’re too tired to do something that will free our minds. Likewise, we must not play too hard to the point where we lose the motivation to do our work. That is the challenge of balancing it all properly. For more on the work-life balance, visit the Privileged Rants Pinterest page.
The third advise is to rest. Simple as that. Rest. Everyday is stressful enough. It’s worse because it is tough to escape because we are constantly bombarded with the news on the internet, in the news media, and even in daily conversations. It is important to take the time to rest, take a day at a time in order to stay sane. I asked a friend about something recently and got the following response…
“Bruv…I’m tired of being triggered. I am managing the amount of upsetting information I filter in. Please let my emotions rest…already holding on to it barely.”
I read that and it hit me that there is no point in beating ourselves down and forcing activities on ourselves or working to the point where we breakdown – we need to recharge too. For some of us, we will find ourselves having much more time to ourselves when summer rolls around (i.e. full-time students). For others, who already work full-time, there won’t be a change in our activities in a few months. For both groups, it is important to get ourselves into the habit of taking time for ourselves. Now is the time to prepare.
In Conclusion…
We do not know when we will go back to the normal life we were used to. This may be our new normal for the next few years. Wouldn’t it be better if we do what we can to make ourselves comfortable where we are now? I remember one day that I got back from work only to find out it was going to be our last night in that house. I was not ready to leave yet, I’d spent 13 years in that house. Also, the place we were moving to was a temporary place until the new spot would be ready. I wasn’t comfortable in the place we immediately went to, but I had to adjust for the time being. I was glad that I did, because we spent a month there. So, while we wait for what might happen next, we should make sure that we take care of ourselves now. We should also remember to take advantage of every day that we are healthy. Remembering that some people are having it worse than we are, we should be thankful to God. The phrase carpe diem immediately comes to mind. It’s a phrase that, loosely interpreted, can mean we should seize the day and not give much thought to tomorrow. Again, while it seems that tomorrow is not promised, we can rest assured that God has got us.
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself…” (Matthew 6:34 NIV)
Most importantly, be safe and healthy. Abide by the rules of social distancing for as long as it is in place. Even when it is lifted, keep a safe distance between you and others, observe the usual personal hygiene practices.
RANTS FROM THE PRIVILEGED SEAT 