What I have learnt from this pandemic event?

“The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody
can take it away from you.” – B.B. King

This year is going to be an unforgettable year for many people, especially me… ever since January 2020, I was looking towards a busy and productive year focusing on what I am going to do. Then the inevitable happened… nobody expected it and it just happened. We are all in this together, no matter who we are and where we are. This event does not care and recognize who is who… and of course some who have more resources will weather through this easier than those who have not much.

The focus of this blog is not on the details of the event, it is just a sharing on what I have learnt so far… please message me should you have any comment or feedback. I do look forward to learning from you as well. Thank you and enjoy some perspectives from me.

“One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity. “ – Albert Schweitzer

What I can learn from this event (so far)?

HUMILITY
The virus do not care who you are and the news on suffering of others have made me realized that “life is short!” I need to be humble and ask myself, “how do I want people to remember me (should something were to happen to me)? With tools like social media, I can use it to “brag”, tell others about my achievements, how I am in certain activities and you know what I mean… or I can be doing more contemplation, reflecting on how I can lift others up, doing what I can to take care of people close to me and inspire others to focus on the positives?

“A great man is always willing to be little.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

CHOICE
I have a choice to be positive or negative. I can also choose to be bitter with what is happening or with some people who tends to trigger / upset me. I kept reminding myself that I need to choose to focus on the positive. One of my mentors have asked me once (when we were together and some one upset me), “How do you want the story to end?” Thank you for the question and I need to choose wisely. Anyhow, there is always a price to pay to whichever direction that you have decided upon. Are you willing to pay the pay? It will be easier if you are willing…

“In the end that was the choice you made, and it doesn’t matter how hard it was to make it. It matters that you did.” ― Cassandra Clare

CREATIVITY
In times like this, especially when the government has enforced the Movement Control Order (MCO), with my son who is active and who wants to play… I have to wear my “creative hat” and come up with some simple activities… one of them is to convert our dining table into table tennis… well it has been about 20 days for the MCO… so far we (including the mom) are enjoying playing the game of “modified” table tennis. There is definitely no end to a creative mind. What are you doing to be creative? Care to share some creative activities that you and your family have come up with?

“The sky is not the limit, the mind is…”

PATIENCE
Everyone is spending most of the time together at home and there will be some conversations that will test your patience. I have learnt to perfect practice patience to listen (with the intent to understand, rather than to answer), expecting less on the things I want people to do and negative postings in social media. Remember, we have a choice…

FRIENDS
I also realized who are your good friends and the importance of having some close friends (that is good enough). How can we help to cheer our friends up and go through this journey together. I am sure one day when this is all over, there is much to share and laugh about!

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest
of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell

How to cope with the event?

Below are the 10 -(ten) things you can do to cope with the event… I am sure there are more, let’s experiment some of these, to start with… all the best!

1. FOCUS – make a choice to focus on the positives and do the things that will add value to your own self-development.
   
2. QUIET TIME – have your own “ME” time, to do reflection, listen to relaxing music, journal, pray and meditate.
   
3. COOK – good time for new cooks and great time for experience cooks to experiment new recipes.
   
4. PLAY – make time to play, embark into your hobby and discover new games.
   
5. COMMUNICATE – call your family members, friends and partners. There is so much to talk about and discuss; good old times or future opportunities or just a conversation.
   
6. EXERCISE – keep yourself active, or you can be creative to play some indoor sports with your loved ones or even pets. There are a lot of good resources on-line that you can use as reference.
   
7. FOOD – enjoy the fruit of your labour (from own cooking or as a test subject from new cooks). Think about those who are less fortunate, be glad that we still have food on our table.
   
8. READ – reach for the books you have read before, I truly believe that if you read it again, you will gain different insights. There are also a lot of good on-line resources to learn from.
   
9. ON-LINE ACTIVITY – e-learning courses, articles, shopping, videos, social media… so many positive things that we can get from the internet.
   
10. TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME – smile if you can wake up in the morning. A good practice to be having the attitude of gratitude…
    

My prayer is for everyone to be safe and healthy. Keep going and there is so much to learn from this journey that we are embarking.

Thank you for your time!

“Your habits, your future!”