Thank you Quarantine

Worldwide, introverts are rejoicing and extroverts are crying as they find themselves quarantined indoors. The world is telling them to stay home and save lives, yet many people continue to complain (and truly appreciated teachers more!)  and count the hours until it is all over. They are likely going to be disappointed as it is not going to be over soon.

I however, forever the introvert lone wolf but still enjoy running with the pack, now see this quarantine as a blessing to me and my family.

It is indeed sad that it took a global disaster to make me realize all the positive things we could have in our life. I therefore wanted to note down all the good things that came from this, and will end this note with a pledge I make to myself and to the world. 

·      God bless the power of the Agenda and its ability to keep children in step and organized. Kids need discipline and designing an hour-by-hour activity plan has really made this quarantine easier. We keep weekends free still because too much order is not necessarily a good thing (yes, I said it).

·      No more rushing! We all just hit the pause button (yes it was pressed for us but the impact is still the same). The children seem happier. They spent more time with us. We do not rush every day to school, skating lessons, piano, swimming (no more yalla!). That stress is long gone. We do not even have calendar reminders anymore. 

·      We now eat two meals a day together as a family. We only used to do that maybe once and only during weekends.

·      Our children play more often together. Sure, they still fight * cough * occasionally and drive their mother insane, but they are also reaching out to each other more often to play. 

·      This is truly a great time to be quarantined. Thanks to social media and video conferences, we now have the time to connect with so many friends and family around the world. Everyone is going through the same thing and everyone is crying out for a human connection. We truly are enjoying reconnecting with so many people (online Catan is a blast!).

·      The time spent daily on commute? Home gym time now. That, coupled with intermittent fasting (which is much easier to pull off away from the office and its never-ending vending machines), allowed me to drop 3 kilos so far and counting. Glad to see as well we are not junking out on snacks. If coronavirus taught us anything, it’s that a strong immune system has a higher chance of survival. So, we focus out energy inwards to better our health.

·      Inner energy is also being channeled to our souls. We are far more thankful now than we used to be on what we have. If you are reading this, know you are lucky and you will get through this.

·      The support we see in the community and our managers/companies has truly been amazing. 

With that…I pledge that I will exit this quarantine a better man that I entered it. I will be fitter and healthier, I will be gentler with my children, I will learn to play Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# (Moonlight Sonata to most) and I will no longer try to go back to Aviation industry. I am proud to be in Healthcare and even more proud to have been part of companies that are making a real difference in the world. 

It would also be nice if humanity takes a pledge to spend more time, money, and energy on healthcare, medicine, and the human equation and less on war, but that is another article isn’t it?

Stay safe.