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| Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash |
It seems that almost everyone I know personally has family, relatives, friends who had died from COVID. If you’re one who hasn’t been “touched” by this deadly virus, consider yourself lucky and I fervently pray it would stay that way for you.
Last September 11, we have
registered a record-high of 26,303 new COVID cases. It’s the highest number of
cases logged in a day since this pandemic started last year. I don
What annoys me more aside from the incompetence of the government in handling the crisis is the non-stop bickering of opposing parties especially that the presidential election is just 7 months from now.
Starting today, Metro Manila will be under GCQ Alert Level 4. Alert Level System is a new approach that the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) came up to balance economy (by bringing back jobs) and health. As the level gets higher, the movement restrictions become stricter.
(I don’t want to bore you with the specifics, but if you need to know more about it just click the CNN Philippines report here.)
The new system gives perks to the fully vaccinated as they are the only ones allowed (at 10% capacity) to dine-in and indoor personal care services. For individuals regardless of the vaccination status, they are given the 30% capacity outdoors. I cannot really comment on the partially vaccinated or those who are still waiting for their vaccination schedules, especially through no fault of their own, but for those who are willingly unvaccinated/anti-vaxxers, I hope they won’t challenge this anymore and call it discrimination. I mean, they can't have their cake and eat it too. They made their choice to not get vaccinated, so don’t expect they’d be granted the same freedom as those who went out of their way to get inoculated. Times have changed, we are on a deadly pandemic and people had to do their part.
Apart from this global pandemic already crippling us, the Japanese embassy in Manila has also warned citizens of a possible terror attack/suicide bombings in Southeast Asia including the Philippines. I mean, seriously, haven’t we had enough?
We all have to accept that this nightmare is far from over. Many people are trying their best to cope, some not faring well like the others. I have talked about my own bouts with anxiety and stress for the past few months, how the alternating good days and bad days had been rough on me. This is why lately I try to find joy and hope in the little, everyday things.
Like how I read about how according to
some studies that individuals with Blood Type O may be less vulnerable from
COVID-19 infection.
I always knew I’m a type-O, but I
still wanted to be sure. So a few days ago, I went for a blood typing test. It
wasn’t something I decided out of whim since I’ll also be needing it anyway
for the National ID application come November.
After an hour, I got the result.
Don’t get me wrong, knowing this doesn’t necessarily mean that I can put my guards down now. For all we know, there might be no real link between blood type and COVID risk. Then again, with all that has been happening, it doesn’t hurt to hope that some of the odds are in my favor.
Admittedly, I have been ordering more on Shopee these days, so much so that I didn’t even notice that I am just a few purchases away from being a Platinum member. It was never my goal, but I guess online shopping can bring forth little joy.
When I look inside my room these days, I can see all the purchases I made in the last six or so months, with some really good buys and a few I regret buying. Nevertheless, online shopping gives me the same feel-good factor as that of shopping in a physical store. Seeing my item (however big or small) is “Out for Delivery” is enough to excite me. Unboxing an item and realizing it’s actually a good buy is another level of joy.
I have a lot on my online cart right now waiting for the time I can go ahead and press checkout. I try not to hesitate anymore; if I want something and I can afford it, I will get it. If not, then I will wait.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we’re limited on a lot of the things we used to be able to do to bring us joy. I can’t travel and go on staycations with my family, I can’t bring my nephews to places they want to see, I can’t go out with friends. There are only a few things that excite me these days and denying myself of occasional moments of happiness is not quite right anymore.
“If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.” as that Sheryl Crow song goes.
We are all feeling the emotional toll of all the worry, changes, losses, and uncertainty that COVID gave us. Although it may be hard, I realized I can’t keep thinking about the dreadful things and the worst-case scenarios all the time. I can’t always have a morbid state of mind. It’s debilitating.
I have to have hope. I have to see the joy in the little things. I have to gravitate more toward the things that make me happy. Anything to get my mind away from the horrors of what’s happening. We have to hope that things will get better in time but we have to be patient.
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