Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well in this crazy time. Keep up social distancing and washing your hands hopefully this will all end soon 🙂
- What is something you did for your body?
This past week since we are all stuck inside to help my body I focused on exercise and eating specifically. Exercise whether it’s a low intensity workout or just a simple walk around the neighborhood helps to strengthen the body and ensures that you’re moving your muscles and not just sitting around in bed. A big plus is that it has been so nice out with highs of 20 degrees which made it so much easier to get my family out and go for a walk and I also started a 2 week ab challenge so getting to do that outside with fresh air is amazing. Eating wise again since we’re inside a lot of the time we might tend to crave the junk food like chips, candy and other loaded foods. In order for your body to function at its full potential you need to ensure your giving it the proper nutrients. I have started to cut back on the amount of times that I snack in a day by forcing myself to have three full meals day packed with protein and veggies, plus occasional carbs and this just helps to keep me fuller longer. Another thing that I might start as well that my boyfriend started to do is use an app to help track exact calories and amounts of each food group that you need.
- What is something you did for your mind?
Somethings that I found easy to do for my mind is to just sit outside and enjoy nature admiring the trees and the plants in my front yard, soaking in the sun rays. Taking even just 30 minutes out of my day to do this helped to relax my mind and not to think about other responsibilities – a good time for me to do this is when I start to feel annoyed with being inside or when I start to get overwhelmed with online school since it’s so different from what we’re used to. Another thing for me that helps my mind is to talk. It’s been nice to have my parents around because I have the chance to clear my head space and vent whether it be because of a class or my boyfriend annoying me, I don’t have to text them where they may not understand my tone, they are already here with me. Its’ also not just venting when I like to talk just simple conversations really help my mind keep going or not feel overloaded because I know sometimes I have stories from my day but my friends wouldn’t understand it or they aren’t the right person to tell.
- What is something you did for your happiness?
For my happiness it’s pretty simple, hanging around my family this much has really brought all of us closer and I have seen a difference in how happy I am as well as other family members. Before quarantine I felt as if some days we didn’t see everyone or that we never had time just a as a family since I was driving here and there, my mom would have some night shifts, my sister had soccer, I had work etc. At some point it honestly felt that we all had our own bubbles and the bubbles never came together as one, at least one bubble was missing. Now as a family we all go on walks, we have every meal together, we have game nights and you would think we did that before but our schedules were just too overloaded. Family has truly made me the happiest in this time.
- What is something you did for someone else?
Just this past Sunday it was actually Easter, my mom and I had gone to the grocery store the Friday and decided to surprise our neighbors. One of our neighbors is a nurse so we thought about her but we also live by a lot of families with younger kids as well. We asked the husband of our neighbor of who is a nurse if they needed anything and said that we would bring it by, she was so surprised and so happy since she was working so much and it was hard to go out and pick up the necessities. For the kids we picked up just small little bags of chocolate to leave at their doorsteps as a treat from the Easter bunny. Lastly, my grandma from my mom’s side unfortunately lives on her own and hasn’t seen us grand-kids in quite some time and especially due to COVID-19 we don’t know the next time we can see her, so we’ve been trying to call her as often as we can because I know that it makes her day we she hears our voices and knows that were doing okay.
Hey Kaia!
Thanks so much for sharing!
I really connected with how you mentioned you have found happiness through spending time with your family. I feel the exact same! Like your family, my family is super busy all year round, I also hadn’t realized how little time we spend with one another. I really liked your metaphor of the bubbles to explain this, as I think it works perfectly. Sometimes we find ourselves in our own little bubbles so solely focussed on our specific duties and tasks we forget to come together with the people around us. One of the only plus sides of this social distancing is that I have been able to spend more time with family, and it looks like you have too!
Like you, I have also been trying to call and Facetime my grand-parents as well. Both my nonna and nonno live alone, and my sisters and I call or video chat to offer some company to them and someone to talk to. It is hard staying at home all the time right now, but honestly I couldn’t imagine being at home all by myself. I have my mom, dad, sisters and dog, but that is not the case for people like our grandparents. I’m glad you are doing your part to help give your grandma someone to talk to as well!
I really enjoyed reading your reflection and seeing what you have been up to!
Keep staying safe!
– Madison Ciulla