di Lorenzo Pollastrini
With the oncoming of the covid-19 virus and the beginning of the pandemic, we had to give up our ordinary lives and embrace a more discreet routine, often very dull and plain. We lost the conception of time, mixing up different days, not being able to make out in which one we did something in particular, because of the fact that all our actions seem exactly the same, repeated over and over with, apparently, no end.
We have found ourselves in a quite scary scenario, just in a few weeks. We thought that something that broke out in China, a far-off country, could not reach us, but it managed to cover that distance very quickly. The stories that we used to read or watch on tv, narrated to us by different dystopian authors now happen to be true. But we don’t have to panic, everything will eventually work out sooner or later. We have to stay positive, no matter the situation.
With this being said, I wanted to draw your attention to the fact that most of us take lots of ideas or our routines for granted. We believe that everything will stay the same, and we’ll always live the same ordinary things and events that used to happen when we were really free. We started losing the value of the things we took for granted, we lived not appreciating as we should what we have in our lives: relationships, places we can go, the freedom to travel, the freedom to stay with other people and so on. Now, that we have lost many aspects of our daily life: the freedom to travel, meeting other people, living together sharing spaces with others, seeing your loved ones, your relatives, the people you love, being afraid of going out, or hugging your grandparents or relatives.
I wish that all of the people that are reading this article could reflect about this. Let us consider the importance of these people, their actions, freedom of choices. Stop taking things for granted and start appreciating every single moment of your life, regardless of how good or bad it is. We’ll surely get through all of this, so learn the lesson, and start living for real (and take up your life). I know, this statement could sound really arrogant (I know, You may not agree on this point, perhaps it’s a little too strong), coming from a seventeen year-old boy, but I think that everybody should spend at least a little bit of time thinking about this, and then you can argue about my considerations.
I also wanted to discuss another point: what to do during this quarantine to avoid boredom. I wanted to share with you some tips that worked on me and I’m sure some of you will find them very useful unless you’re not already familiar with them. We should take advantage of the fact that now we have to stay at home almost every single hour of the day, if you are not lucky enough to have a garden or a private open space in your property. The key to make everything work out is your will. As a famous English saying goes : “Where there is a will, there is a way”, if you want to achieve something, and you are really willing to turn upside down your life, the most important thing that you have to do is to believe in yourself. So, the first thing to do, set your mind on the right mood and then work on yourself. You can take up a new hobby, read a book that you have never had the chance to open, exercise more, learn a new language or practise more an already known one, write down your thoughts, feelings (you could write a new best-seller, who knows?), start a new tv series, watch films, learn how to cook new dishes: the only limit is your imagination (and of course your house, and what’s inside of it).
The most important thing that you should do however, is to stay in contact with your family, friends or all the important people in your life. We live in a very advanced technological world which allows us to communicate, so you have lots of ways to hear from the people you love, or seeing them. I’m completely aware of the fact that it is not even as near as seeing them in person, because you are divided by a screen, and there is no physical contact, but that doesn’t matter. Always remember: everything will end, but in the meantime you have to live.
So come on, start today, change the way you perceive life, stop taking everything for granted and start living for real, our bodies and our minds are given to us only once and time won’t help us reach what we want, so don’t waste your life but instead get the best out every single moment of your existence.