Lessons Learned During the Covid-19 Quarantine

COVID hit us pretty bad and prompted most world leaders to put their countries and communities on lockdown. And yes we are one of those countries that is highly affected by this pandemic which made our President put 70% of the country on Enhanced Community Quarantine. Believe it or not this quarantine taught us a lot of valuable lessons such as sacrificing your freedom for the greater good, listening to the authorities is definitely everyone’s responsibility and of course being thankful of what we have especially now that everything is restricted. Here are some of the things I learned during the COVID-19 Quarantine:

The term “Quarantine” alone already makes me feel like a prisoner. Outgoing people like me loves spending most of our time outdoor but this quarantine had isolated us and restricted our freedom, but of course it is for the greater good. The lesser you are outside the lesser chances of infections you might get. But even with the good intentions of the quarantine it still makes me sick and staying home is really difficult. The abrupt halt to everyday life and call for social distancing has left some feeling lonely, disconnected, and restless. This too made me think of my supposed to do list for the summer or even for the year and often makes me think what if I did this, what if I did that while I still have the chance. So as important as it is, home quarantine has made us value our freedom, or even stepping outside, anytime and anywhere. With the restricted freedom, the quote “You Only Live Once” is highly applicable because it’s true, while you still can and while you still have the chance, give it a shot don’t wait for another quarantine to happen.

It can be a contradiction with my first statement on appreciating freedom but this quarantine also taught me a lot about myself. I am the kind of person who has a hard time to just keep still and do nothing but with the restrictions of the quarantine I have to learn to spend time being alone. Since most of the time I have to stay home, I have to learn how to keep myself busy in order to maintain my sanity throughout the lockdown. The quarantine made me realize that our body and mind is our home and that you have to learn how to take care of it, love it and live with it.

If you are like me who has no talent in cooking and who is used to eating out, you will definitely find yourself in a terrible situation this quarantine period as you have to find a way to feed your hungry stomach as most of the restaurants are closed. Definitely you’ll end up cooking your own food and unfortunately, you are forced to eat your home cooked food weather it tastes good or bad. This time you’ll realize that cooking is an essential skill and a needed tool for survival. So perhaps this is the right time to learn the basic ways of cooking. To give you a tip, the best way I learned the basic ways of cooking is through watching videos on Youtube. There are plenty of Vloggers who are much willing to share their home recipe that is ideal for this quarantine period, budget friendly and ideal for limited ingredients. Believe me, cooking was never fun only until there was a quarantine haha!

Let’s face it, we are suffering from a Pandemic and all of us is at stake of being infected, whether you like it or not, not one of us is spared of this problem. With this, spending time with family is very much important as we don’t know what really awaits us tomorrow. Unfortunately for workers like me who has to work away from our family can only communicate and bond with them through calls and messages. But phone calls and messages is not enough to assure you, it even makes you miss them more. Being away from family also makes you feel anxious as you do not know their situation and you cannot watch them 24/7. So while you have the chance, spend as much time with your family members especially if work is suspended because honestly, as of now, I would have traded anything just to be with my parents.

Even if we are restricted to go outside there are still many ways to learn new things. Yes, there is a Quarantine and most of the time we are at home, however, it is also right to say that this is somewhat a “gift” because it gave us time to do the things we weren’t able to do during our busy days. And yes, this is the right time to enroll on that online course you had been wishing to enroll. This is the right time to read piles of books and this is the right time to write. Hone that talent, be creative.

In times of crisis like this, communication is very important especially in the workplace, may it be through phone call, messages, or video conference. Keeping each other updated is like keeping each other healthy. Physical meeting may not be possible but there are ways to conduct meeting such as video conferences. Though it may not give the same impact as that of the actual meeting but at least it still helps boost each other’s confidence, it improves productivity and increases efficiency and effectivity at work.

Since freedom is what’s really highly affected this quarantine, it is very much important to be thankful for everything we have and always value the time we have on earth.