Skip to main content

How I survived the COVID-19 quarantine

The year 2020 was something else. On March 13, 2020, my workplace released everyone to go home for two weeks.  At first, I treated this lockdown more like a stay-at-home vacation for the first week and a half that I was home.  Then, after a month, I started to feel more and more anxious and uncertain of what could happen. The number of people dying from COVID was scaring me and I was scared to go outside for fear of catching COVID and bringing it home to my mom who is older. So, I did everything to avoid people as much as possible and only go out to the stores only when it was truly necessary.  It was towards the end of April when I can across a video of a motivational speaker who proposed an interesting insight into the times we were living in.  She asked, "It looks like we have two choices here: 1. You can stay paralyzed and be stuck with the same person you are, or 2. you can use this time to learn, grow, and be better." I'm not going to lie, but that really hit me like a ton of bricks.  I knew I didn't want to stay afraid and not do anything during this time we were going to be in quarantine, so I decided to get my act together and I wrote down all of the things I wanted to accomplish so that when quarantine was over, I knew I wanted to feel differently and become stronger.  Here is my list of things I did to survive 2020: 

1. I kept a gratitude journal for all of 2020.  I wrote 5 things I was grateful for each day.  At first, it was hard to find 5 things to write about but with time, I trained my brain to look for 5 good things every day.  There were many times when something good would happen, and I would tell myself, "Oh, that's definitely making it in my journal tonight." 

2. I discovered amazing fitness trainers on YouTube and I exercised every single day (including the weekends) for 45 minutes. My favorite trainers are: Lucy Windham-Read, Heather Robertson, Chloe Ting, Olivia Lawson, Brian Syuki, Holly Dolke, and Popsugar Fitness. I interchange the workout videos on a daily basis and I found myself engaged every single day. Everyone has a different style of working out so I enjoyed the variety it provided me during this time. 

3. I started to sleep 7 to 8 hours per night and it made a world of difference in my life! The more I slept, the better I felt. I had more energy and my focus levels had improved drastically! I was more creative at work and I had better ideas to share with my team.  

4. Not only was I sleeping well, but I was also waking up every day at 5:00 am.  I started to dedicate the first hour of the day to myself and I started to love myself for it.  I would wake up early and make my bed, tidy my room, and work out for 45 minutes. Then shower and get ready for the day. 

5. I would plan out my entire day, from the moment I woke up to the moment I got into my bed at night the night before.  Planning for my day helped me stay on track and helped me accomplish my daily tasks and goals. It was easy after a while to follow the plan because it wouldn't vary so much since I had most of my morning and nighttime routines already set.  I was forming habits that helped me stay in control.  I once heard someone say that when times get tough, your daily habits are going to help you stay and feel grounded and that's exactly what they did for me. 

6. I listened to over 80 audiobooks in 2020 that were mostly autobiographies and personal development books. I began to apply what I was learning to my life. Listening to an audiobook on sleep helped me realize how important sleep truly is to the body. I would listen to audiobooks mostly in the mornings when I was getting ready for work or in times when I would do my household chores.

What I noticed the most about myself during this time of self-care was that my anxiety levels had lessened during quarantine because I felt more and more in control of what was happening directly to me. I also noticed that I was more patient with others, I was more positive, I encouraged my team, and I was more creative with my projects and ideas. The best part is that others were noticing the positive changes in me, too! 

I've learned to love myself and I can truly say that I'm a better person to myself than I was before.  I give myself more grace, and I have more positive self-talk. Now I know the things that help me stay in control. I'm glad I made the choice to change and become better.  After all, your success comes from the things you do every day. And I truly believe that now. 

Thanks for reading, 
Mayra 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seeing the light

I'm sure you've heard of stories about other people having near death experiences they encounter when they find themselves in very dangerous situations.  I was watching a program as part of the Super Soul Sunday series of comedian Tracy Morgan talk about the accident that almost took his life about a year and half ago which happened on his drive home after doing a comedy show.  He talks about seeing his deceased father coming to him and telling him that he wasn't ready for him yet.  It made me think of my near death experience I had in high school. 
Post a Comment
Read more

New Year's Eve Hispanic Traditions

I seriously believe that every culture has some very interesting ways of welcoming the New Year.  I grew up in a Mexican household in the United States, so I got the best of both worlds. I do have to say, that we have some every fun and creative ways to welcome the New Year: 
Post a Comment
Read more

Confessions of a newly single woman

It's not easy living life when your heart is broken. People say that no one dies from a broken heart but I will say, it sure makes life more difficult.  I had my relationship with my boyfriend of over a year recently end and the pain is very much present.  For reasons that were out of my control and looking back, I can only hope that he let me go because he really truly loved me and wants me to live a happy life even if it's without him. On some days, I wake up with him on my mind often wonder if he  still thinks of me, if he misses me or wonders if I'm doing well or not. These days are definitely my bad days.
Post a Comment
Read more