So it’s been at least a minimum of two weeks of quarantine and social distancing for everyone in Vancouver. How are you doing? Anyone else thinks that they are stuck in the Groundhog Day Movie? Have you decided what COVID 19 stands for you?

I’m normally a positive person and on purpose stay away from the news. So when the COVID19 news broke, I got my initial information from proper sources on what I need to do and don’t and then tried to stay away from it all. I know myself, I can’t be around negative news much or I lose it.  It’s a well-known thing in my family that I don’t pay attention to news and I don’t want to be bothered by news especially if it’s a not happy positive one.

Now before I continue I want to make it very clear, it’s not that I don’t care about all the victims my heart goes to them. And I am also so appreciative and grateful for all the men and women who risk their lives to save ours. I stay home and follow social distancing to the T. My teenagers have not left our home for the past 17 days while their friends are not 100% on board with the new order. I do this because I care about what’s happening worldwide.

Having said that I think we all cope with anxiety in different ways and mine is to stay away from the COVID 19 news. I don’t think it’s working this time. Wherever I turn there it is the word  COVID 19.

So I had to get creative. I can’t control the news and the word COVID19 but I can change the way I look at it. So here is what COVID19 stands for me:

What COVID 19 Stands For ME

Connect with loved ones

Observe my habits

Value laughter

Inspire and get inspired

Dive into a good book

19 minutes of meditation every day

Connect with loved ones

Simple, we are social creatures. We need to stay connected to stay healthy and sane. What better way to pick up the phone and call the aunt we never call because we don’t have time or the friend we lost touch with because of our different work hours. It gives us a sense of connection, love and fills us our cup and theirs.

Observe my habits

Staying home for this long is a great time to better ourselves. Why not paying attention to all of our habits the ones we acquired now and the ones we had before Quarantine. Dig deep and see what was working and what wasn’t working. Write them down and then rewrite them to what you want or need them to be so you can be the person you like to be. It’s so amazing to see how little changes can have huge impacts on our life. We should take a lesson from this microscopic virus that turned our lives upside down. Start small and build on it.

Value laughter

Now more than ever we need laughter to keep our morale up. It’s like the WII movies where comedians and dancers would visit troops to boost morale and help them keep going. We are in a war with a tiny little virus that we can’t even see. So what better way to keep our spirits high than laughter. Bring laughter to your life. Read a joke, watch comedy, be silly. Just do something on purpose to make you and people close to you smile.

Inspire and get inspired

Now is the time to get inspired and create the things you had in you to create but never had the time. It’s like now the universe tells you, it’s your time to do what you think it’s possible. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. And inspire others to get on with their lives, start new hobbies, cook, dance, be more. Together we can move away from this Grandhog day kind of movie.

Dive into a good book

And last but not least there is nothing like a good book that can take you away to the neverland, and bring you back refreshed and inspired.

19 Minutes of meditation

No matter what time I wake up, I delete all the notifications on my phone, turn my phone to airplane mode and meditate and write into my gratitude journal for at least 19 minutes. I always go over but who cares, I don’t have anywhere else to go 🙂

I happily live in my bubble. Where I am living, is not quarantine. I’m living in an abundance of time with my family and time to do the things I always wanted to do and never thought to have the time to do them. I know it feels impossible, especially when you don’t know what happens next month and if you can pay your bills or not. I know I was laid off from my day job as well.

It won’t help if we focus on the things we don’t have control over. At the same time, it feels powerful when you focus on the things you have control over and try to make those better. Then the inspiration kicks in and you find new and different ways to make a difference in your life and the life of people around you. That’s exactly how I was inspired to help out and make reusable masks. After the initial shock of losing my day job and all the things that are happening in the world, I made a choice to change my perspective look with a different eye.

Hoping that soon we can all go out and enjoy the company of our friends and family! Until then find what COVID 19 stands for you. Share it with us in the comments, inspire us.