Home Sweet Home

Thanks to our friend COVID-19 most of the people around the globe are at home, waiting for normality to come back to our daily life, so we can embrace our beloved routine again. Is that so? Please, don’t tell me that you are missing getting up early, the stressful rush hour in the morning, the traffic jams, the packed tubes and buses, your boss – and some colleagues – touching your balls at work and so on. You cannot be missing that, right? What’s wrong with being at home all day doing whatever you like? I guess you are familiar with a common excuse like ‘I haven’t got the time for this’ or ‘I’m too busy’. Well, ladies and gentlemen, the time for procrastinating is over! Most of us have now all the time in our hands. Thank you very much! So, what are your plans for this lovely lockdown time? Wait, let me guess. You have tons of series queueing in your wishlist on Netflix, or maybe you have a lot of games on Steam, PlayStation or Xbox, waiting for you to grab the gamepad and play like crazy. Those are some lovely plans indeed, as long as you are single! If you live with your partner, the same plans could be pretty much done by the two of you as playing games together is going to be even funnier! Now, let’s say you are a lucky parent of some lovely children. Then the fun just multiplies, reaching an infinite level of joy and wonder. You always laked the time for your children and now you can spend all day long with them. Take the opportunity and have fun doing all kind of childish things with them. These days some people are struggling to keep their sanity at bay. Spending so many hours at home with your partner and your children can be a quite challenging endeavour. Did you know that most of the divorce requests come during the holidays? Do you think that’s a coincidence? Some people just can’t cope with this new situation we are facing. There’s too much free time these days and neither our imagination nor our patience is limitless. Staying at home all day can be depressing but it’s now more than ever when we need to stay mentally strong, mostly if you have children. You need to be an example for them. You must cheer them up as they will feel a bit down sometimes. And when that time comes to you, your partner or your family will have to do the same for you. Because we are all together in this situation so we have to support each other and when the time comes, when normality comes back whenever that is, we reach that moment in a good mental condition, and also physical one, why not? You have now plenty of free time to exercise but you can’t go out. Is that a problem? Just find a spot at home, clear a bit of space for you and the rest of the people at home – this would be even more fun with all the family – play that video on Youtube along with some music, and let’s move your body. Who knows, you might even get in better shape than before, as long as you keep your visits to your friend the refrigerator at the minimum. So, I have already given you a few ideas to keep you busy for a while, but there’s more, much more. If you still haven’t discovered the wonderful world of books, now is the perfect time to start. In my opinion, reading is the most emotionally-rewarding pastime available. And nowadays you can read anywhere you like with tons of books to choose from your favourite app store on your smartphone. Can you imagine? You can read in the bathroom while doing your things there, you can read in the living room while you keep an eye on your children, you can read in bed just before going to sleep. If you prefer, you can also buy a paperback book online in case you are a romantic, like me. There are many different genders to choose from within the main two categories: fiction or non-fiction. Give it a go. I’m sure you will find the perfect book to keep you entertained for quite a while. Now that we have plenty of possibilities to keep both our mind and body busy, there’s still a very important part of ourselves left: our soul. That’s right, what about our soul? I’m sure you never had time to meditate, to do yoga, to enjoy your hobbies, to learn something or even to be creative in any way. You can do that now. Well, maybe not everything at the same time. In case you don’t know what your hobbies are, now is the perfect time to find out. It’s the perfect moment to know yourself a bit better. ‘Hi myself, how are you doing?’. ‘I’m alright, thank you. Long time no see!’. ‘Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been kinda busy, you know’. ‘Nevermind. It’s never too late to know each other. Please grab a seat’. This could be a very good start of a lovely conversation with yourself. And don’t worry if you speak out loud; nobody has the right to call you crazy for that, not even yourself. Take your time to find out what you like and also what you don’t like, find out about your dreams and also about your fears, which are your skills and wich are your flaws. Our true self it’s usually hidden by our busy daily life so we never have the time to take a look inside of us. And remember that knowing yourself better will help you to be happier in life and also it will improve your relationship with family and friends. In my opinion, everything happens for a reason. Destiny has a specific plan for every one of us and this pandemic has come to teach us something important. I think we have realized that we need to work together, supporting each other so we can overcome this crisis, always keeping in mind that we are equal against the virus. No matter how rich or poor you are, the colour of your skin, your religion, your country of origin or even your lifestyle. We are all vulnerable and likely to be infected by this and many other viruses we still don’t know about today. I hope this crisis will help us break down the walls and borders we have been building up lately. As a civilized species, we should be joining forces trying to eradicate hunger, poverty, pollution and many other issues in the world. Maybe this crisis is a wake-up call for all of us to come back to the right path of reason and common sense and to reach inner peace within ourselves. It would be a great improvement if this crisis can at least teach us to be more sensitive, generous, kind and respectful with each other and the environment, with or without a virus menacing our lives. Please, be grateful for your life, your health and the people around you. But also be grateful for this coronavirus as it will make us grow stronger in mind, body and spirit, so we are ready for more challenges in the future to come. Stay safe and take care.