Today it is the 23rd of April, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. It is a day dedicated to children by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. It is also the first day of a three-day lockdown. Children must have been celebrating this day in their homes. At least the weather accompanies the spirit of the day. It is sunny and calm.
The first thing I read in the news today is that virus is spreading at an overwhelming speed. It is reported that there were 354 deaths in Turkey solely yesterday due to COVID-19 and the total number of death reaches nearly 38.000. Also around me, I see that more and more people catching the virus. It feels like the circle tightens and we all know that we are going to be dealing with this situation for a longer period than we thought initially.
What the future holds for us is uncertain. But when we think of it, wasn’t it always so? The change, I realize, is in the increased level of stress we experience daily. I tend to spend hours on the Internet under stress. Most of those hours are wasted and I know that I can make use of my time in a better way. Not by doing more though, by doing less and opening up space for self-care and being mindful.
I come up with a few shortcuts to keep my mental state healthy. I’m going to share a list of them with you. Hopefully, it will be a little bit of inspiration during these tough days.
- Not feeling guilty for not working more.
- Finding a way to support people around me.
- Listing three items in my mind that I’m grateful for.
- Exercising for 30 minutes, intense or light, doesn’t matter.
- Taking my time to declutter my space and my mind.
- Reading or keeping a daily journal.
- Setting very simple goals and keeping track of them.
- Creating a sense of adventure by looking for excitement in daily tasks.
