Hello my friends! I hope you’re all staying in good spirits during this crazy time. I never would have thought this is how I would be spending 2020 but hey, when life throws you lemons you make lemonade. Which leads me to my post today. Below I will list and talk about ways I’ve been keeping myself busy during this quarantine. Please feel free to take some of these on or let me know of ways you’re keeping busy and sane. Enjoy!
- Read more! One of my favorites during this time. Seriously, reading use to be one of my favorite things but because I have school and work full time I never really had the time to do so. Now i’m working from home and my classes were already online, I’m still busy with that. However, now that I’m home all day I have lots of free time to read! My favorite books to read right now are motivational/uplifting books or spiritual books. (I have plenty to recommend, so let me know if you need some) I would love to hear what you’re reading as well! I’m always looking for new books to read. (Just don’t tell my husband that.. because he says I buy books to just sit there lol)
- Joining daily challenges This is a such a fun one! I’ve joined a few challenges recently because they keep me completing something everyday and I find that completing something daily and checking it off is one of the best feelings. Like, you really did that! It also encourages you to keep completing other daily tasks, or at least for me it does. It motivates you to do get up and do something everyday, especially when you are doing it with a friend or a group of people. I’ll tell you about a couple of challenges I’m completing because I have like 5 going on lol The Hollis’s #Next90challenge, is such an amazing one and it’s completely free btw. It’s perfect to keep you in good spirits during this time so I would seriously encourage y’all to join in on it! Honestly I could go on and on about that one and that couple but now is not the time. My next one is a challenge that a friend of mine asked me to join and it’s on the Nike Run Club App. Our current challenge was to run 5 miles and honestly I joined because I’ve been wanting to run and what better way to do it than with a group of people virtually. Plus, moving your body 30 minutes everyday is so beneficial! Get movin’ people!
- Keeping myself accountable and in a good head space I’ve been trying to choose joy everyday and see the good in every situation I’m given. Of course just like the rest of you, I have off days too. Sometimes I just feel like the load is weighing me down and I struggle with my mind. On those days I just let myself feel; I just make it through the day the best I can. However, I don’t let myself go off the deep end. I won’t let my feelings win. I will feel them and I will work through them and then I wipe my tears away and I keep on going. Because I don’t believe in letting my feelings get the best of me, not anymore. Too many times have I let that happen and I refuse to let it happen again. So, I just try to keep a good head space and try to change my perspective on things. You have to be the light when the world starts to turn dark. & On days where your world seems dark, turn to someone else’s light. We will get through this together.
- Turning towards God. This has been a huge one for me. I seriously don’t know where I would be without him. I know that sounds dramatic to some but to others they know exactly what I’m talking about. When you feel his presence in your life, everything just make sense and you just know things will be okay because he is in your corner. He is so faithful to us even through all our flaws. I’m not the perfect child of God, but I’m striving to get there and during these uncertain times I feel so much better turning to Him and leaning on Him. He is SO good. I just hope you get to see what that feels like. Use this time to draw near to Him. He always hears you. Let Him be your strength.
- Having some fun / playing games! Y’all seriously need to allow yourself to have some fun during this time! I enjoy watching people come up with new ways to have fun during this time! Whatever it looks like for you, take some time to just enjoy yourself. I personally have been spending time playing Animal Crossing! (anyone else?) it’s seriously so addicting!! I don’t get to play as much as I want to because of everything else I have going on, but it’s okay to set time aside to play games sometimes!
- Planning – yes still do it (make checklists) So I know a lot of people are bummed about buying 2020 planners because they are kind of going to waste right now, but I feel the opposite. I still enjoy planning my weeks/days out and as I said before, making daily checklists and crossing things off one by one is seriously so satisfying! I encourage you to keep planning. Make a checklist of things you need and want to get done. You feel so much better after checking something off your list.
- Spending more quality times with my fur babies Lucy and Enzo are seriously hopping up and down about this one! They are lovinggggg me being home all day. Lucy a little bit more than Enzo because she loves to cuddle all day long. Enzo has plenty of energy to go around so he can’t sit still for long #pupprobz. So, I’m getting lots of cuddles in with my baby girl and spending sometime running around and playing fetch with my boy. Seriously, love on your fur babies a little extra during this time! You both need it and I guarantee you that they will be over the roof excited just to have you loving on them all the time.
- Journal/blog Well, do what I am doing right now haha this blog is seriously such a safe space for me. I can come here and poor out my feelings and type infinitly. It’s so therapeutic for me. Regardless of keeping it to yourself or letting people in on it, I don’t think it’s healthy to keep your feelings bottled up. I encourage you to find an empty journal or create a blog and let yourself just spill. Release all of it from inside you, or call a friend that you trust and tell them how you’re feeling.
- Overall, choosing joy! This is something I practice daily. This isn’t very easy for some people and that’s okay, but I still say you should try it out. What’s the worst that can happen, you not feel joyful? I mean wouldn’t that happen even if you didn’t try, right? On the other hand, if you try to find the joy in things, you may start feeling really good and find plenty of joy in your daily life. What brings you joy?
- Setting up a morning routine Last but definitely not least! I felt this was the best time to finally get a routine going for myself. My life has never been about routine and I kind of just got things done whenever. It was a mess tbh. I have found that coming up with a morning routine for myself has really done me good, honestly! A morning routine gives you a great start to your day & also helps you feel more accomplished again as you check things off. My morning routine starts at 7 AM and consists of morning devotion first thing when I wake up. I do that for an hour, read from bible, pray, and sit in gratitude. Then I move on to my morning workouts, shower & get ready for the day. I make my bed and then have breakfast. During breakfast I try to listen to a motivational podcast or my worship playlist to get me even more pumped up for my day. Now if you know me you know that waking up at 7 in the morning was not ideal for me lol I truly cherish my sleep! However, I knew that I needed to start waking up early to get everything I needed to get done. Plus, I wasn’t exactly against waking up early to have some me time before getting the day started. I also have never in my life made my bed daily. Heck, I could probably count on one hand how many times I made my bed in the morning without a real reason, but all be damned I do it every day now and I feel good about it! If I don’t complete anything that day at least I made my bed! What I’m getting at though is that you should create a morning routine for yourself to help get back into the habit of things that may have been put on hold for you. I’m not saying go crazy and create this unrealistic morning routine that consists of yoga at the crack of dawn and writing a book, but seriously set some time aside to make a list of things you want to start doing daily and try to come up with your own morning routine to get your day going in the right direction. It doesn’t even have to start at 7 like mine, just do what’s best for you. Also, let me make note that if you slip up and sleep in one day or don’t always complete your morning routine, it is completely okay! Don’t beat yourself up about it. Don’t throw the whole day away just because it didn’t go as planned. Just pick up where you can and keep it going. Start your day with a grateful heart, nonetheless.
–Lots of Love, B.
Briannatan11 