Silver Lining.

World war 3 almost happened, Kobe and Gianna died, and a plague puts the entire world on house arrest, and its only april. Some would say that this year has been the worst year in modern history, but let me remind you once more, its still only april.

Quarantine is the best thing ever.

Quarantine is something the majority of mankind know very little of, and that fact stands even more in the 21st century when we have not been more free and healthy ever in all our history, and that makes this jump, a harsh one.

Being told to stay indoors and not go out other than to get groceries would be such a heretical thing to propose even 3 months ago, but now it is a reality as bitter and unenviable as instant coffee.

But as a wise man once said, “you can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails”. It is one of the traits of successful people to pick themselves up and push through hardship, and right now in the face of months of loitering, we need to pick ourselves up more than ever.

And to that cause, the first order of business is to address a new friend that we were forced upon by life, loneliness.

Solitude is the gift.

Loneliness is a mirror to reflect on, it strips you bare of all your predetermined traits, that has been given to you by other people, loneliness is being free of external judgment.

Being free of external judgment exposes you to the internal one, and these ones are the devil. They say you are your worst critic, and they’d be right, the asymmetry of your face, your procrastination, and your laziness is painfully apparent to you.

And this becomes your weapon. but its a double-edged sword, loneliness can destroy you, or build you up. And it’s pretty good at both, you choose.

Having nothing to do, means having the time to do anything.

You should never be bored, because other than the vast universe outside your door, there’s a bottomless ocean inside your soul. Take the time to explore it even if it gets dark, get to know yourself and do something most don’t, learn to accept your soul.

Don’t squander your time, because that’s doubling down on a bad deal, you depress your happiness by procrastinating, while also halting your climb to success at the same time, its… bad.

And even other than introspection, there are so many things you can do in quarantine, but all of it requires focus and determination, but I promise you it will be worth it. So learn a new language, do strength training, start writing, learn how to invest, educate that beautiful brain.

True Freedom

“Without other people to validate us, we are nothing; an empty flask on the roadside, with a bad after taste of alcohol and depression” is a spell that has all of us “quarantined” in mundanity.

Quarantine gives us the time and the presence of mind to break this spell. The shell of self-perception from other people’s opinions is such a tough one to crack, but with this fast of human interaction that shell weakens just enough for us to break it.

with this we can achieve freedom, to be ourselves, to be who we truly want to be. So look into yourselves, find the person you want to be, list the habits that you would have to adopt to become that person, and self-actualize.

Facing our demons

The resistance, insecurities, procrastination, the ghouls of self-actualization comes in many names, but all of them are of the same nature: they come from temporary desires and impulses.

And the drone of daily life doesn’t help, it’s a lot harder to stick to a morning reading routine when you lack sleep and have class at 7:30, but in quarantine you have time. Its easier to be consistent when you have nothing to do.

So let me give you a challenge, pick a habit that you’ve wanted to adopt for a while, not a hard one but an easy one and do it today, tomorrow, and the day after, focus on it because it is what matters now, and you will delight on how great you are after this quarantine is over.

Your greatest investment

Most of your time in daily life is devoted to certain things, either work, education, or socializing. And now when none of those take up half the day for most of us, we need to face our most neglected investment, which is ourselves.

Do things for you. It’s a simple concept, work on yourself like you would work on something you love, because you are something you love, work on it with care and consideration. Work on yourself as you would your greatest investment ever.