Written by Pelumi Kolawole.
Photo Credit: bnmxfld on Instagram

2020 has been a wild year, I must admit that life has been a little strange. How is everyone doing? I still cannot quite believe how drastically the world change almost overnight. If someone would have told me back in February, we would be in lockdown by March, because the world would go through a global pandemic and I would have to wear a mask every time I leave my house like batman, I would have called you insane. I never; would have guessed that COVID-19 could affect almost everyone in the world. I think the pandemic has taught us all some lessons though, and I would like to share some of those with you today.

I am stronger than I think

Back in March, I was kind of worried about the lockdown for so many reasons. College shut so dramatically it was kind of a shock I spent about a week feeling low, worrying and not being very productive. Which, by the way, is completely fine and understandable right now, so definitely do not beat you up if you are feeling that way or have felt that way too. I decided to pick myself by creating a daily routine for myself. This may sound kind of weird, but it took me a while to realise I thrive of structure and it helped me on those summer days seemed to last forever. I handled lockdown by taking it day by day.

Gratitude is a given 

Learning to be grateful for things that I has helped change my negative mindset. I understand that practising gratitude can be difficult because sometimes I struggle with it, so it is easier said than done. We all entitled to our emotions and no one can tell you how to feel. While our feelings are very much valid, it is great to remember what we do have rather than what we do not have. 

You can express gratitude through:

  • Journaling
  • Blogging 
  • Daily affirmations

Social distance does not mean we have to disconnect 

Have you ever unexpectedly received a phone call or a text that brightened up your day? If the pandemic taught me anything, it showed me how lucky I was to have a supportive, caring family who I could relate to. Because of COVID-19, I would like to think that we are all socially distancing, this means that our social lives have been dramatically affected as well. That is why staying connected with your family friends and loved ones through the pandemic is a must because you never know what someone is going through.

It is never too late to learn a new skill 

I knew that I did not want to waste my summer and decided to find some new hobbies. One of my New Year resolutions was to start a blog and thanks to my boredom I did just that. Gtanted I did not start my blog in the summer, but I did start it because of lockdown. I doubt that I would have done any of these things if we were not in lockdown.

As I mentioned, I was worried back in March for so many reasons. I honestly doubted my strength to cope through such a situation. And none of us has dealt with anything like this before have we? My life has changed so much since March with university and my blog being in full effect, I must remember to take a minute and a breath. Whilst there have certainly been some hard times, I have bounced back and got back on the path to where I want to be. 

Read more from Pelumi by following her blog, Simply Pelumi.