Face mask, check. Alcohol, check. Face shield, check. Before leaving the house, these are the things I usually do. Take precautionary measures to avoid catching the life-threatening virus outside the comfort of our home. Why do I have to do these things I don't normally do before? It's because when the COVID-19 pandemic started last year, everything has changed now. COVID-19 pandemic brought a lot of changes in my life.
Before, I have to go to school everyday to attend face to face classes, but now, my cellphone in front and earphones on my ears are my ultimate companions while studying. But, sometimes after a many hours of being in front of my gadgets, my eyes hurt and even my ears where I put my earphones are affected as well.
Aside from that, meeting friends outside will never be the same anymore. With the threat of virus, it is better to stay at home and communicate with them virtually, but, of course, meeting them personally is better than just by seeing them on the screen of my phone. But, since there is a pandemic, I'll just endure being at home even though I really miss hanging out with my friends, because I know that it is for everyone's safety.
There are also time that I have to go outside to attend some important matters but before leaving the house, I have to put my mask on, rub my hands with alcohol and put my face shield. These things are now mandatory to do as they served as our main protection from the deadly virus. Sometimes, I feel like I can't freely do what I want outside because of this pandemic. I can't hug people, and I can't get closer to them because 1 meter social distancing should always be observed to avoid the spread of COVID-19 virus.
Sneezing in the public is also a big deal now. There are times that I have to prevent myself from sneezing outside even though I know it's quite unhealthy. It also bothers me whenever I catched mild fever, because my mind overthinks a lot and thinks it's COVID-19, unlike before wherein having fever is not that big deal to me.
On the other hand, because of this pandemic, I have so much time to bond with my family and get to know them more. Spending a lot of time with them, and seeing them smile and laugh after having such an stressful day, make me feel happy. Before, I spend most of my time in school interacting with my classmates and teachers, but now, mostly I am only here at home spending time with my love ones.
Aside from that, since I am just here at home the whole time, I can freely use my vacant hours doing things that make me feel relaxed. I don't have to wake up early in the morning to attend classes because in just one click, I can easily join virtually. I just need to have strong internet connection to avoid hassle.
The COVID-19 pandemic also taught me to be financially literate. It made me smart when it comes to handling money knowing that, spending with unnecessary things should not be tolerated. I know that things became more expensive now and our economic status was dumped, so I have to change my mindset too when it comes to spending. I think it would be very helpful for us to identify and separate our wants and needs, so that we can be more practical and wiser when it comes to budgeting. At the same time, if we know what we really need in life, there's a great possibility that we will not spend on things that are not really necessary, and just use our money on essential goods.
There are so many changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in my life. In order to cope-up with this what we call new normal, I've made a lot of adjustments that are at first difficult to deal with. As time passes by, slowly I'm getting used to these routines. I just hope that someday, everything will be back to normal and we will never be scared with the virus anymore.
