Self-Reflection

Hi guys! I hope everyone has been feeling good these past few weeks. Myself, I have been feeling quite well staying home, getting to sleep in, and have been taking this strange event as best I could. But lets get to business. Here is my self-reflection!

1. What is something you did for your body?

For the first few weeks of this incredibly strange pandemic, I was adapting. To be quite frank, I’m still kind of adapting. It is really bizarre staying at home for so long and having online classes, but I am so very grateful that my mental and more-or-less physical health hasn’t taken too much of a beating. I would normally get lots of walking in every school day, so this change has been interesting. I started to feel quite fatigued though after a couple of weeks of physical inactivity, so I decided that I had to change my habits and I started to do a few things. The first one was to take walks outside when the weather is nice. This activity is absolutely perfect as it simultaneously improves my mental and physical health. Breathing in fresh air and giving my legs an easy yet useful workout is always great and a walk around the block also allows for physical distancing, a must if you want to stay healthy. Another thing I’ve been doing is workout and stretch while playing video games or watching TV. I have been doing this a lot more than usual because, well, I have been playing a lot more video games and watching a lot more TV than usual! Jumping around, stretching out my arms, legs and neck and making sure to at the very least not sit down while indulging on virtual content has been quite rewarding for my overall physical heath. And finally, I have been playing badminton with my parents! This is also a fantastic way I keep myself active because it also allows me to experience more quality time with my parents and move around a lot at the same time! We play to win and here’s a quick spoiler; I’m normally not the one winning.

2. What is something you did for your mind?

I have been trying a couple of things to improve my mental state and overall mental health. The first of those is playing puzzle and problem solving games on my laptop and my smartphone. These have become one of my favorite things to do during this pandemic and consist of many types of games ; crossword puzzles and other word games, scrabble, math games and much more. They have kept my mind working, especially after I have finished my homework for that day and made sure that my mind didn’t “go to sleep”. The second thing I have done for my mind is talking walks outside. While I did list this in physical health already, I felt like I needed to list it here too. Taking walks really lets my mind be free and the fresh air lets me unwind after being stuck in my house for hours and hours on end. It helps takes the edge off and when I return home I always feel more free and more calm than I did before I took the walk.

3. What is something you did for your happiness?

This is probably the easiest category for me to reflect on. Video games, TV and my cat! First off, video games. As you can imagine, being home for so long each day has allowed me to play a lot more video games. I have started a few new games in the past couple of weeks and while they might not make my mind work much, they sure do make me happy! I love playing them and experiencing the stories that they have to tell is fantastic and it always feels rewarding when I beat a particularly difficult level or boss. Second, TV! I have been watching a lot of TV as well these past few weeks, and I have finished more than a few shows with and without my parents. I love well made dramas, science fiction, anime and animated adult comedy shows, with one of my favorites being Big Mouth which I finished just a week back. Watching them always makes me happy and I greatly enjoy starting a new show. And third, my cat! I absolutely love spending time with my cat and he’s one of the things that makes me most happy. Spending more time with him than I usually would has dramatically improved how good I feel everyday and waking up in the morning and petting my cat is one of my favorite things to do!

4. What is something you did for someone else?

Because my parents are the people I now spend the most time with, I have learnt a great deal more about them and what they like. I learnt that they like spending time and completing activities with me, so I started to hang out with them a lot more closely! On a daily basis, I now play UNO, poker, blackjack and many other card games with them, and even though we try not be too competitive, someone always seems to get a little too into it. Like I mentioned in physical health, I also play badminton with my parents every couple days and that always seems to make them happy. We also play video games together, those being Mario Kart and other racing games, and I can confidently say that I normally win the races, but it’s still always fun. It is a little difficult though to organize these activities some days, because my parents still have to go to work, but it’s definitely worth it!