Staying positive during the lockdown

With the problems this viral crisis brought us like financial insecurity, losing jobs, and uncertainties with prolonged lockdowns, we can’t deny the fact that some people are now experiencing depression and this is something to be dealt with as soon as possible.

So in order for us not to feel miserable too, I thought of several ways to keep us physically, emotionally and spritually healthy. This is in connection to the previous blog I’ve posted but this is to put emphasis on how we keep ourselves positive amidst the depression. Through these activities, we didn’t feel bored as we wait for the lifting of the community quarantine.

Here are the activities we do during the quarantine:

1.       Meditation

-          At 5 o’clock in the morning, I, together with Cherry, Shiralee and Kenneth wake up to meditate. We welcome the another extension of our lives by sitting together in my room closing our eyes, feeling God’s presence and keeping positive vibes as we breathe in hope and expel out the negativities. The stillness of the morning calms my senses. We do this for 30 minutes and I feel so much refreshed and renewed after the session.

2.       Exercise

-          Right after meditation, we do exercise. Thanks to Roberta’s Gym on Youtube! We start by warming up our bodies and we proceed to the exercise proper where there are daily exercises for cardio, endurance, and strength. We focused on firming our glutes and removing our belly flab. At first, it was hard to execute some moves but as days passed, I got used to it. The challenging exercises for me are the squats, 50-80 jumping jacks, star jumps, mountain climbing, and 1-minute plank. I also do hula hooping and cycling in the afternoon. With Cherry and the group, my motivation to lose weight grows stronger because I need to join them or else I will be marked ‘X’ for not participating. It’s really great to see the members of the family exercising together to be healthy. The family that sweats together stays fit forever.

3.       Diet

-          In the morning, I and Cherry only eat oats with boiled egg. I try to limit my rice intake. I do this to boost my metabolism. With my father’s garden, I thank God for giving us green leafy vegetables to eat such as malunggay and alugbati. We have a balanced diet as we alternate eating pork, chicken and fish. I make sure to drink plenty of water as well. I’ve seen improvements to my skin. My face doesn’t have pimples anymore and my complexion even fairer. There are so many benefits to eating healthy foods as I have regular bowel movement.

4.       Bible and Worship Songs

-          As I start doing the household chores, I listen to joyful worship songs. This makes me reminded everyday of God’s love. I always tune in to Hillsong and MCGI worship songs. I feel alive and happy to sing wonderful praises to God. Before going to bed, I make sure to read the daily gospel and talk to God to the things that happened during the day. I treasure my alone moments with God.

5.       Bonding time with my family

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As much as possible, we stay away from the social media. I always enjoy meaningful and fun conversations with my family. My Mum and my sister Cherry are the jokers of the family. I and Pup exchange our opinions about current events. We tease Kenneth sometimes. We asked Shiralee about her love life. Through this, we were able to share our knowledge from the reference books that we’ve read and reflections from the bible.

I hope that as we start to adapt the NEW NORMAL, we may still continue to do the productive things we have done during the quarantine. Honestly, I didn’t feel worried each passing day as these activities helped me to forget my problems. Instead, I look forward each day thinking how I will please God. This gives me a positive outlook in life. This has been the conversion that I am looking for and I’m going to continue to be fit, positive and calm to keep myself intact. This too shall pass.

My Quarantine Diaries

Binge reading my favorite author's books

My days during the quarantine period have been very productive.

We never say we are bored staying in the house since there are lots of things to be done in the first place. It’s like every single day, we need to accomplish goals and I found myself planning what to do for the next day. Set aside tiktok and netflix for a while, here are the things that kept me busy:

1.       Household Chores

·         Having a two-story house isn’t easy to clean. With seven spacious bedrooms (dusting and rearranging furnitures and organizing stuffs) it’s impossible to finish all of it in one day. Also, it is not nature of our parents to just sit on the couch the whole day since they are always up to something, most of it cleaning. So as their children, we take initiatives to help. I need extra hand to get it done so I always ask my siblings to help me with the activities. These take the whole morning until lunchtime comes.

·         We take turns in washing the dishes as well. One has to sweep and mop the floor and another has to wipe the dishes before we watch TV.

·         As for the laundry, I and my sister do it every other day.

2.       Reading books

·         Being a bookworm, I made sure I allocate time for reading. I do this in the afternoon. I challenged myself to read as many books as I can. I’m more focused on books bought from Big Bad Wolf since I was impulsive in buying it last year. I just thought that this is the right time to make use of them. As of this writing, I am starting to read Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Made finishing touches of my song compositions 

3.       Awakening my musical interests

·         I started tuning my guitar and doing song covers once again as my stress reliever. There’s always music whenever we wash our clothes too to take away boredom.

·         I completed my unfinished song compositions

·         I saw improvements in finding my vocal range. I want to be an opera singer!

4.       Rosary

·         Improving our spiritual life is essential. With the cases of COVID-19 rising, we seek intervention of our heavenly father with intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary to help us win this battle. We do this in the evening, when we’re done washing the dishes. I thank God that the whole family is participative where aside from reciting the rosary, we also offer our heartfelt petitions for humanity and for the whole world.

5.       Relax

·         Every once in a while we tend to rest and relax. Since I’m out of work, an eight hours of sleep is what I really deserve. With so much hatred and negativities in social media, I tend to cut down my internet usage and instead, I spend time with my family by watching movies or sharing jokes with them.  

·         Of course, I use Tiktok once in a while. I also watch Youtube and Netflix videos if I have enough mobile data. Of course, I’m reviving my blog site as well by writing drafts.

At the end of the day, I realized that things are worth it. Maybe this outbreak is an avenue to keep families closer together but again, I hope this pandemic will end soon and everything will be back to normal. After all, I still hope we can go to malls and enjoy outdoor activities before I fly to the US. I hope your quarantine days are as enjoyable as mine. Keep safe and stay indoors!

My random thoughts about COVID 19

In this vulnerable time where we face this catastrophe against COVID-19, we, as frontliners in this scenario are asking for your full cooperation in this matter. We can’t completely control this without doing your part. You should be part of the solution, not a burden.

It’s risky in our lives. While you were asked to stay at home, we healthcare workers are still reporting to duty, exposing ourselves, and testing the samples of what might be positive to the virus. It is our oath to use our profession to serve the humanity. We work in silence even though it goes unnoticed; no matter how infectious or deadly it may be.

Test kits may be limited but the government is exerting their efforts to order PCR-based and FDA-approved kits from other countries to facilitate nationwide testing.

Honestly, it’s new to my ears hearing these words such as self-isolation, extreme enhanced community quarantine, and social distancing, but it’s strictly imposed now and thus it should be practiced in our community to mitigate this disease.

I consider panic buying of surgical masks and hoarding of alcohols greed. Carts full to the the brim with hand sanitizers, soaps seem to be insensitive. Some don’t have consideration that others need it too.

Fake news is circulating everywhere so we should do fact check to credible sources such as DOH, WHO or CDC.

Elderly and immunocompromised persons are usually affected so it’s our priority to protect them.

Death tolls have increased worldwide resulting to lockdown of airports to help prevent spreading the virus. Thermal guns and scanners are so useful these days for checkpoint.

Sad to say, it has not only affected the health of others but the livelihood of Filipinos because most businesses are closed. Some do skeletal staffing which is hard for those people who are breadwinners.

I appreciate the country’s efforts in putting the people’s welfare by suspending classes and work and National Telecommunications Commission sending constant texts reminding proper hand hygiene and cough etiquette.

I just saw Bayanihan in this country, working hand in hand to reach out for those affected. I truly appreciate those companies who recognize our efforts by giving food packs to frontline health workers.

Churches are closed. It saddens me that masses are temporarily suspended on Sundays but in the midst of this pandemic, let’s pray that there would be fast discovery to cure.

Now isn’t the time to blame the government or worst, oust the president. Although, we are a nation with different perspectives, now is the time to show unity and solidarity. It is so dismal to see people rallying for delayed relief goods and aid. 

Stay at home and practice social distancing. Keep updated to the news and be informed to updates.

As a medical technologist, it’s an honor to serve. This is my profession. I’m no longer calling for hazard pay but donations such as the PPEs are appreciated to get through every single day. I believe we could put an end to this sooner. We fight for you, so please fight for us by preventing the spread of infection.