March 17, 2020 marks the first quarantine of the Philippines.

Quarantine has been a

peculiar time for many of us. We were all compelled to slow down, look around, and spend a
lot of time with ourselves, which brought disparate effects to our well-being. Some took it as an
avenue to try something new like learning how to bake; lose weight by dancing or exercising; or
just simply changing their selves for the better. However, for others, quarantine has worsened
the condition of their mental health making them developed various illnesses such as anxiety
and depression just by the thought of being locked up and unable to see the world beyond their
front door.

As for me, the quarantine allowed me to ponder on my previous experiences and grow
as an individual through lessons I have gained along the way. The following realizations have
enlightened me and prompted me to become a better person throughout this pandemic, and I
hope they can do the same for you. You can use these lessons to help you move from your
ordinary existence to a more purposeful period of your life that will provide you with meaning
and fulfillment.

First is don’t be hard on yourself. Giving yourself a hard time will only produce
dreadful results and will only hurt you. During these trying circumstances, everything has
changed. That is why it is essential to cut yourself some slack. We all are aware that the
quarantine had been and continues to be mentally exhausting. At first, I thought the reason why
I’m unable get as much done as I was before COVID 19 began and is because my brain just
rested for a long time. I also noticed that I'm not able to stay as focused on the task at hand. This
led me to push myself more and implement strict rules on myself which only gave me countless
headaches and breakdowns. Eventually, it became clear to me that the actual reason why I have
not been able to function the same way was because my mind is overwhelmed and frankly,
scared because of our current situation, where the cases of COVID – 19 patients continue to rise
every single day. Consequently, it made me realized that giving myself a mental and physical
break is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact, it will increase my ability to focus and help me live a
more peaceful life.

According to the Wellbeing Thesis, “Relaxing and social breaks have been found to be
particularly beneficial. A relaxing break can help to facilitate recovery, by returning your mental
and psychical functional systems to their baseline. Additionally, a relaxing break can help to
reset your mood, thereby promoting positive wellbeing and reducing stress.” With this in mind,
even when we reach the end of quarantine and our world has returned to a more usual state,
we should still allow ourselves to take breaks.

The second life lesson that I have learned during this quarantine is that less is more. In a
culture that promotes more is better, I found myself wanting to do, see, accomplish, and have
more in life. Whether it’s the things that I own, friends, achievements, and the list goes on.
Quarantine on the other hand, put the world into a halt and forced us to slow down, stop doing,
stop moving, and stop attempting to achieve more. As a result, I developed an appreciative
attitude as I stopped focusing on acquiring more and be contented for what I already have and
the people that stayed in my life during this tough time. At the start of this pandemic, I
remember how unhappy I am with the laptop that I got to use for my online classes because it
used to be my mother’s laptop and it already has a lot of issues on its system. However, as I
learned that most of my classmates don’t have a laptop to use in the new mode of learning
wherein, laptops are much of a necessity nowadays especially for students, I realized that even
though the laptop that I have is not brand new, I still have something to use unlike most of my
classmates. It made me realized that I have more than enough and I need to be thankful for the
things that I own because not everyone has the same privilege that I have. It also came to my
understanding that some people need to work hard just for them to own the things which I
easily got, which made me value what I have now and not focus on the things that I don’t have.
We need to understand that we are all blessed and have more than what we need. Sometimes it
takes something or someone else to open our eyes to what we have and for us to truly realize
that less is more.

Lastly, I have learned that it is vital to make an effort to keep your friends and family
close. With everything that is going on in the world today, remaining connected to both our
friends and family is more important than ever. I like talking to other people and love hanging
out with my friends a lot, some say that I’m an extrovert person with my personality and all.
However, isolation caused me to become estranged from my friends and family, making my life
lonelier and more unappealing. I noticed that I was contacting my loved ones less and keeping
my thoughts and feelings to myself after a few weeks in quarantine. My mood continued to
deteriorate, and the days became increasingly difficult and futile. I didn't grasp the importance
of talking with family and friends until I had the courage to tell them what I have been going
through the past few weeks. My spirits began to lift and I felt less alone with my family by my
side. Piedmont Healthcare states that “The emotional support provided by social ties enhances
your psychological well-being. One study found that people who view their friends and
families as supportive reported a greater sense of meaning in life and felt like they had a
stronger sense of purpose.” With this, I can say is that don't underestimate the impact that social
interaction with friends and family can have on you. Make an attempt to keep in touch with
your loved ones, whether it's through a social distancing get-together or simply face-timing
every now and then.

Conclusively, being in quarantine was definitely not easy. It required so much to change
and came with uncertainty all around. However, we need to remember that there is always the
other side of the coin and we just need to look for the brighter side of any situation. Instead of
focusing to the stressful side of the quarantine why don’t we just make our quarantine and our
overall life more enjoyable by taking our time to reflect on how the pandemic affected our lives
and see if there's anything we can learn from what we or the people around us have gone
through.