SURVIVING & THRIVING 2020: USEFUL HABITS IN COPING UP WITH THE PANDEMIC

        It is not only me, but I felt that most of us accepted that 2020 seems to be a letdown. Why do they have to make a soup out of bats? Pun intended. In my previous blogs, I mentioned that I am working at the airport. It means I am facing and talking to different kinds of people from all over the world. The average number of people I faced every day since I started working in 2018 is 300 people. January and February in Cebu is festival season. The Sinulog Festival and Chinese New Year bring an influx of people to the airport. January and February 2020 is not different. And suddenly, March came with fear. The novel coronavirus imposed a threat to the safety of everyone. Lockdowns and quarantines around the world put everything to a halt except those who are mandated to duty. People at the airport is no exception. We have to cater to the stranded individuals and work as if it is normal. The good thing is that our office provided us with disinfectants, gloves, and face masks. We work in a skeleton scheme. Our day-offs are prolonged, but we have to stay indoors. We can only go out if we have to get our necessities. 

    Not everyone has a coping mechanism with the lockdowns and quarantines, especially for ambiverts and extroverts. Living in a third world country is also financially straining. 2020 altered the normalcy of our life. In this blog, I want to share how I am surviving and thriving in 2020. It more of the habits I developed during this pandemic.

    Morning & Evening prayers. Upon waking up in the morning, I do a gratitude prayer. Appreciating what we have and we enjoy is the perfect mindset. The roof in our heads, the food on our plate, and the oxygen we breathe are enough to be grateful for. I persistently pray for good health, guidance, and safety for me, my family, and my friends. In the evening, I also say my prayer for the world. It is for everyone who suffers from poverty, injustice, and helplessness. Praying is mind-setting. What you put your mind to is reflected in what you say and do. 

    Drinking vitamins religiously. In my part, I am obligated to do my job during the lockdowns since the airports are receiving and sending stranded individuals to their countries. The airport temperature is considerably cool to the point of chilly, but it is quite tolerable if you get used to it. After work, I usually feel that the warm temperature of my body. I get a little surge of paranoia, but it turns out that the warm temperature in my body is just sipping through. To ease this, I ate a hearty meal and take my vitamins. I take three vitamins which are Vitamin C with Zinc, Ferrous Sulfate, and Vitamin D3. Moreover, I also have this after-work ritual where I have to drink a lot of water when I get home so that I can cleanse my bladder and kidneys.

        EATING FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. I recently when home in my hometown to visit my family. The quarantine protocols are extremely stringent. I processed all my documents with the help of a few friends. The Local Government Unit (LGU) required me to undergo strict facility quarantine and a negative swab test result. They fetched me in the port area and provided my necessities during the quarantine. In exchange, I needed to wait for four days to have my swab test and wait for another two days for the result. This is my first time to undergo the testing. Even though I am completely confident that I’ll have a negative result, I still indulged myself with fresh fruits and vegetables. The food which the LGU provided is apparently packed with the right amount of meat, carbohydrates, and vegetables. My good friends also sent me fruits in the facility. Those things are a great help to me since I don’t have to be anxious about the result of the swab test. I always believe that the food we make manifest the kind of person we are. If we eat healthily, we create an immense amount of positivity and productivity on a daily basis. 

        EXERCISE AT LEAST 30 MINUTES. Trust me, I am not a fan of “exercise”, but my weight skyrocketed during the pandemic. My asthma attacks became frequent. My panting after one flight of stairs is inevitable. From then on, I started to control what I eat and I started a routine. I have been taking baby steps in my physical activities. My first step is walking. My goal per day is to achieve 10,000 steps. The indicator is the app: Samsung Health. It tracks down the number of steps I do per day and it indicates the calories I burned after the walk. Based on my weight and height, I have to achieve 6000 steps. I am quite competitive so I usually achieve 10,000 to 12,000 steps per day. After all, it is for my health benefit. I recently started a low-impact high-intensity work-out. A colleague referred to their YouTube page to me. It is certainly helpful since no equipment is needed and the aftermath is not sore arms and leg muscles. Visit their page on YouTube: The Body Project and learn more about it.

        IMPROVE OR DEVELOP A SKILL. As I mentioned, I am a little bit more dependent on my Mom for my cooking skills. I burned and undercooked some of the food I made. This pandemic taught me to fry, saute, boil, and roast a few things. I am still a novice, but I know a few accurate things to do when I am cooking. I learned that I should put a little seasoning and then I will have to taste it so that I’ll know if have to add more or stop. I learned to fry in medium heat and not burn the fish or meat. I also learned a few lunch and dinner recipes by heart. These are little things, but it connotes that I actually learned. On the other hand, a friend taught me about creating a page on the internet. He taught me skills on SEOs, Keyword Planner, and the like. He helped me in setting up this website and consistently encourage me not to slack off and work on my entries. 

        The pandemic put several limitations on what we can do, but the way we look at things makes the difference. We have to appreciate and cherish the people and things that we have right now. We also need to continue developing our skills and talents through the platforms and alternatives the internet can offer. We have to put into good use social media sites for research, skill development, improvement of well-being, and passive forms of income. There are also applications that can help us improve our mentality, spiritual, financial, and physical aspects. Our patience, positivity, and perseverance can turn around what we think, feel, and see in times like this. That's why we need to feed our mind with great ideas and to learn essential skills.