We See Positive: Covid-19
By Lucy Le, Miss Teen Asia World Princess 2019-2021
What a time we’re living in right now. Never would I have thought there would come a point in my life where I would be living and experiencing a global pandemic. To be honest, I still have a hard time believing that this is even real! But as the death rates rise and as people’s lives change, I realize it’s reality and there must be ways to cope. Now that the world is in quarantine, I can’t help but think about how everyone is handling their life with such an overwhelming situation.
Scrolling through social media I see many inputs from people around my age about what they think or feel of ‘The Coronavirus’ at this time. Some play video games the whole day and others are taking countless pictures in their backyard. Some are meeting their friends to go hangout yet some are raging that people continue to ignore quarantine laws. Some complain about online school and some are spending their free time working on themselves. As a teenager myself, I see the variety in views that my fellow teenagers have. But no matter what, I believe that in such a health crisis, safety comes first.
Although this article is a bit more directed towards teenagers, I think many can take a bit of information and apply it to their current life. Therefore, I would like to express some things one can do to help turn this situation with all the negatives into positives for themselves and others:
STAY EDUCATED
As humans, we fear the unknown. We must be knowledgeable to not only guide ourselves in the way we live, but to also help spread the right news to others. We shall listen to professionals and experts to help keep ourselves and everyone around us safe. Find out why it’s necessary for social distancing or why masks need to be worn. Figure out what must be done to keep things sanitized. Many people may not know what’s going on so they have a hard time handling it. It’s very beneficial to put in effort and learn about what COVID-19 really is. During this time, although we must be isolated in our homes, it’s important to stay connected to each other. Thankfully, we have technology to spread the word and help get everyone on board with the right ideas. We should all play a part in helping ease this virus and that starts by educating each other so that everyone knows what must be done. This will not only make the group effort bigger, but more people will have hope that one day we will get out of this situation stronger and better as people.
USE THE TIME TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
Work on your physical and mental health
As a junior in high school, before the quarantine, my whole day to day routine revolved around school and I’m sure that many can relate. Going to school for most of the day and coming home just to work on large amounts of school work was stressful and personally, I didn’t make time to do much of anything else. So I dedicated my whole spring break to purely enjoying all the free time I had. But once that week was over I was not expecting for school to be postponed. Once I was in quarantine, I quickly adjusted to a new schedule that I created for myself to follow so that I could stay occupied. Now that school is self-paced, I make time to work on my physical health at home. Although gyms are closed, it’s important to at least try to improvise with at home workouts routines.
While in school, I tended to stress eat and ignored healthy eating simply because I was so occupied with my studies. But now I spend just a little bit more time and effort into deciding on what and how much food I will consume to help benefit my health and keep it stable.
While in school, I was guilty of having bad sleeping habits such as staying up late constantly and pulling all-nighters once in a while. Getting the right amount of sleep has been one of my top priorities during quarantine. In a short amount of time, I began to feel much more energized and healthy as I made sure I got enough sleep each night.
Not only do exercising, eating right, and sleeping adequately aid your physical health, it can play a huge role in your mental health. Exercising releases stress and eating the right nutrition as well as sleeping the right amount can lower your anxiety levels. Something else that could possibly help you with your mental health is finding things at home to do. Make time for yourself and plan activities instead of being in bed or sitting around. Pick up a hobby or try new things.
Personally, I enjoy playing guitar so I like spending time either honing my craft or reviving my skills. Dedicating some time reading spiritual books has also helped me pass time. With this intense virus going on, it’s cardinal to take care of ourselves in any way we can at home, physically and mentally.
Work on time management
Personally, I’ve always struggled with managing my time which is part of the reason why during school, I don’t make time to do anything else. With further due dates, and more time on my hands, I’m currently working on splitting up my day so that I have a set time to do a variety of different things. With self-pacing, everything that needs to be done will rely on when you decide. For any young adult, I believe learning how to manage time properly could benefit you in the future as you will have more tasks and activities on your plate. So why not use this time to practice and give structure to your life? It’s very advantageous and will overall increase your productivity.
SEND GRATITUDE AND STAY GRATEFUL
Behind everything you do at home, please remember that it’s very much appreciated by medical and essential workers that continue to work even through such a time like this. Doctors and nurses risk their lives to help keep citizens safe while we’re at home staying away from the virus and doing things that can’t compare.
Recently, I read a touching message from my friend’s aunt that expresses her hardships as she is an ER nurse working during this pandemic. She mentioned that she no longer can touch her family and must isolate herself in a room after work. So as many of us have the luxury of relaxing and enjoying things at home, we should send gratitude to people like her that are working endless shifts for us.
We shall continue to help lower the rate/ spread of this virus by being quarantined and socially distanced. Sending gratitude could mean donating to organizations – who are aiding hospitals and clinics in necessities – such as masks or simply to spread the word of encouragement to stay isolated is considered sending gratitude to make their lives a little easier. COVID-19 took a huge toll on our economy.
Many people no longer have jobs or are no longer able to provide for their families. Considering the disabled such as the deaf and blind, you can just imagine how hard their life must be as they live their life by touching things which puts them at risk.
If you are lucky enough to be able to spare some donation, there are many organizations that are collecting money to give back to the families and communities who are desperate. In times of need like this pandemic, we need to help one another and spread love in the most appropriate way so that we can overcome this rough time as united as possible.
Whenever I’m not in a good mood, I try to remind myself that I need to stay grateful because I’m far more lucky than others to have a roof over my head and all the necessities to live. Just simple thoughts like that can brighten up your attitude and give you motivation to make the most of what you have.
SPREAD ENCOURAGEMENT, NOT HATE
As COVID-19 began taking over the world, I’ve experienced and witnessed a large amount of ignorance, hatred, and violence towards the Asian community either through social media or in person. There is now a huge social stigma and negative view of Asians simply because a virus originated in Wuhan, China. The root of the racism comes from people who blame the Chinese or all Asians for such a virus, almost as if we’re a scapegoat. The virus indeed came from China but that is no reason for us to spread negativity and discrimination towards them.
Ethnicity and race have no connection to the spreading or formation of a virus. As the United States tops all countries with the number of cases, it proves that the only problem in the US is the spreading of the virus which ultimately is in Americans’ hands, not just the Chinese or Asians.
As a proud Asian American, it’s very disappointing to see people racially profile the Asian community knowing that it might just be to express anger and frustration during this extreme time. As I scroll through my Twitter and Instagram feeds, I often see videos of confrontation, violence, and verbal abuse towards Asians in public. But also through social media, we can educate and encourage one another to spread love and sympathy instead of disgust and criticism.
In conclusion, even though the global pandemic of COVID-19, we can still find the good in it. We shall use this time to protect and nurture ourselves as people. We can find practical ways to help us cope and handle our lives. We need to be optimistic and have hope because all the efforts of beating this pandemic DO NOT go unnoticed. This is the time to love. This is the time to help. This is the time to stay safe.
Through so much negative, we can still see positive
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