10 Things I’ve Learned During Quarantine

As New York is slowly beginning to reopen, I thought I would share some of the lessons I have learned during this pandemic.

1.      Enjoy the small things in life. Enjoy a good meal, laughs with your friends, taking a walk. Look at the small wins every day. 

2.      It’s okay to be lonely, sad, confused, frustrated, disappointed, upset, and angry. I had all those feelings one time or another. I had a really hard time at the beginning of quarantine because I was supposed to be at school finishing my senior year of college. But those feelings are valid and okay. I hope after quarantine, I will continue to be expressive with my feelings, because I am usually not.

4.      Go OUTSIDE. Every day I made it a part of my schedule to go for a long walk outside.

5.      Take more “me-time.” I’ve talked about this a lot in the past, but I rarely take enough time for myself. So, because I couldn’t see anymore or really do anything, I took a lot of “me-time” and it felt great. I did some reading, I watched hours and hours of TV and I relaxed. Hopefully, when this is all over, I will continue to take the “me-time” I deserve.

6.      We’re all in this together. High School Musical couldn’t have said it better. You and I are not alone in this, even though it may feel/felt lonely at times.

7.      Life is short, embrace every moment. The spring of my senior year of college was ripped away from me. I should have enjoyed college even more than I already did, and I shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to do and see things. Now I have a laundry list of things I will have to return to Wake to do and see.

8.      Be grateful, for your health, family, and friends more than ever. I wrote a lot of letters at the beginning of quarantine, telling old friends hello, and saying how much my friends mean to me. Be grateful for the doctors, nurses, hospital staff, scientists, delivery workers, food store personnel, and emergency service people. Be grateful for the hero’s that are putting themselves in harm’s way to help people.

9.      Life goes on. Regardless that we have been stuck in our houses for weeks, life still move forward every day. Our lives progress whether we like it or not.

10.      We will overcome this. This is the first big national/international crisis that has affected my life. I was alive for 9/11, but I don’t remember it and I don’t remember life before it. So, it didn’t really affect me. This, however, is something I will never forget. But like every world war, every crisis, we will overcome it, and come back stronger.