Just because the world around us is shutting down and we are having to stay at home and distance ourselves from others, that doesn’t mean we need to completely shut down our lives.
Things to do while quarantined:
- Modify your Onewheel
- If money is tight, clean your Onewheel
- Learn how to ride an EUC
- Read a book
- Build a website
- Start a YouTube Channel
- My son took on this challenge and started his own channel! Check it out and give him some support:
- Play an instrument
- Learn a language
- Learn a sport: ping pong, foosball, basketball
- Cook a new dish
- Learn to invest
- Photography
- Photoshop
- iMovie
- Final Cut Pro
- Paint/Art
- Pick up a new hobby or revive an old hobby: woodworking, Onewheel, EUC
It’s hard to believe that it was just a few months ago when this group ride took place. Life was good. We could gather in groups and have fun. Every little cough and sneeze in public didn’t provoke an anxiety attack. The economy was at record highs. Unemployment was at record lows.
Now our world is a very different place with a ton of uncertainty, worry, and panic. To me it feels like the doom and gloom stems from this sense that we have lost all control over our lives.
When we lose control it’s easy to complain and spread fear. But I refuse to do that because it’s counterproductive and harmful. Instead, I choose to take control over what I can control.
While I can’t control employment numbers, the stock market, the social habits of others, the overall spread of the disease, or the economy, I can control what I and my family are doing during this time while we are self quarantining because of recent travel.
The world has dramatically changed from just a few weeks ago and it continues to change. Every facet of our lives is affected by COVID 19.
Physically, emotionally, socially, financially, and psychologically, the effects of the virus are taking its toll or will take its toll on everyone even if they never get infected.
Just because the world around us is shutting down and we are having to stay at home and distance ourselves from others, that doesn’t mean we need to completely shut down our lives.
Jimmy Chang
I recently sat down with our family and we discussed what we would be doing during this unprecedented time. I told my kids that never in their lives will they ever have as much free time as they will over the next few weeks to months.
No school, no sporting events or practices, no music lessons, no church, no youth activity groups, no hanging out with friends, no visiting family, no trips, no eating out.
We discussed how when this COVID 19 thing ends and everyone emerges from their homes and apartments, what will you have to show for your time spent as a hermit during those weeks or months?
Hours and hours of news watched? Countless time spent on social media? Or an embarrassing number of late nights playing Fortnite or binging shows on Netflix?
Once the world returns back to something resembling normal, and it will, how will any of those things have helped to make you a better person?
Don’t let your quarantine time go to waste!
Instead of withering away in isolation panicking about news you can’t control, or endlessly scrolling through social media which just feeds your anxiety, or mindlessly playing video games or binge watching Netflix, spend some time investing in yourself so that you can rise from this pandemic as a better person.
My daughter made a video too. Go give her new channel some support:
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy reading and watching the news, I enjoy social media, and I enjoy playing video games. But it is soooo easy to get carried away and spend waaaay too much time on things that don’t really matter when we could be spending that time investing in ourselves.
Each member of our family came up with some goals for the next few weeks that we can work towards to learn a new skill or improve skills we already have or to finally work on something that we’ve been meaning to do but could never find the time.
With the internet and sites like YouTube, we came up with some great ideas to help us improve ourselves that are either free and use what we have around the home or could be done at very little cost.
For example, my wife is going to learn how to play the Ukulele, I’m going to make a woodworking project, my son is going to learn about investing and personal finance, one of my daughters is going to learn to paint like Bob Ross, and another is going to learn to cook a few dishes.
Have you found yourself with unexpected free time on your hands? What do you plan on doing with that free time?
Instead of just trying to survive, let’s do things to help us thrive. In addition to watching the news and scrolling through social media and playing video games, let’s find ways to upgrade and improve our own skill set!
For more information on how to stay safe during this time, please refer to the CDC website.