inspiration

Hey buddy, what’s that in your eyes? Something changed in you… I think I know what that is. Is that fear? Did I just catch you doubting yourself?

Listen, there are so many things in life you can control. In fact there is only one – yourself. You don’t get to decide on how long the pandemic will last. You don’t get to choose who gets sick who not. You can’t predict the outcomes, stop even trying. No matter how many articles on the subject you read, how many interviews you watch – it won’t help you prepare for everything. None of economists, politicians, spiritual gurus or even your neighbor knows shit. Everything that you hear or head is only someone’s assumption, an educated guess at best. No one ever been through this before. NO ONE KNOWS what to do. And this is great! It means that you get to decide, you get to choose, you’re 100% responsible.

“A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins.“, (Wikipedia)

You will get sick. You have to get sick with COVID to allow your body to produce the antibodies. If you survive COVID-19—and you will—it’s because your body learned to fight the virus off. Congratulations: Your immune system Just learned something new, you now produce antibodies to the coronavirus. Everyone will HAVE to get sick with COVID-19. Even vaccine is nothing else but the modest version of the virus. It’s not the question if, it’s a question WHEN.

• Isolate your elders. If you have the opportunity – send your parents/grandparents outside of the city. Put them under the strict isolation. Absolutely zero social interaction. If you have a cabin outside of the city – awesome. This is the perfect time to move there. If not , it’s not the end of the world. Go grocery shopping for them. Provide your elders with all they need, so they have absolutely no reasons to step outside. Complete isolation.
• If you are younger than 50 and not obese – there are absolutely no reasons for you to stress out about getting infected. Just forget about that and move on! Of course don’t be stupid and expose yourself to clearly sick people, but also don’t freaking worry about getting sick. Even if you do – YOU WON’T DIE! Only if you really want to. Otherwise they won’t let you, not that easy Joe.
• Move! Lift off your butt from the couch and move your body. Make emphasis on your physical and mental well being. Meditation, breathing techniques, yoga, walking in nature etc… You know it all. Like never before, you need to take care of yourself, especially the mental side of things. 
• Eat less. I know you’ve been eating like a little chubby hamster for the past several weeks. When you stressed – you eat, that simple. Something made you feel uncomfortable – you eat. That’s your time-proven go to tool for coping with discomfort. Stop it! You can not escape the stress with food. You can not satisfy emotional hunger with food. Realize it and get to the root cause of things – your perception of things. Eat to fuel your body, not to escape the stress.
• Educate yourself. Train your mind. Pump your brain. Enroll in online class or course. One module a day. Read a book. Ten pages a day, seventy a week. A book – a month. Progress = happiness. Great online courses sources of books, videos, live training courses are Udemy & O’Reilly. Look it up.
• Stop worrying about running out of toilet paper =) Just for the reference, even during the World Wars grocery stored did not stop selling food (at toilet paper). In 1918, the Canada Food Board declared that “patriotic Canadians will not hoard food”. Read this post: What WWI can teach us about hoarding toilet paper

• Save money. Cash is King. Hold on to your cash. This is a great time to tighten your belt and practice money saving skills. Practice minimalism. Get rid of the stuff that clogs your mind, your life and your house. Experiment, and see how much stuff do you actually need to live happily? I’ve been practicing Voluntary Hardship in the past for the times like this. This is how I did it: Practice Voluntary Hardship . I know I can not only survive, but live comfortably for prolonged periods of time on plain oatmeal and pickles. I’ve done it, I am prepared. Are you?
• Choose the information you consume wisely. Information is power. Disinformation is … poverty, sickness, depression, frustration, dissatisfaction, broken relationships… Throw away your TV. No news, cut on social media. Good news don’t sell. You will not hear anything positive, motivational or inspiring from the news. There will be no announcement that someone is coming to rescue you and solve all your problems. Read the book. Block your mind from the informational poison that attacks you from every crack. 
• Stop stressing about the future. What we see right now is only a warm up before the main act. Deep dark economical ass that’s ahead of us is nothing compared to what’s happening at the moment (Apr 8). Crisis that lays ahead will hit so hard that you will look back on the months of March and April and wish that you could get back in time. The point here is not to scare you, but remind you to appreciate the moment you’re in. The ass is coming no matter what. You can stress yourself out into the grave, but the crisis will still come. Relax and appreciate what you have right now. You will have to give away a lot of things that make your life so comfortable right now, but you will not die. It will feel uncomfortable for a few days, maybe a week or few, but then you will get used to the new way of living. You won’t even feel the difference.
• You will have to adjust. You will adapt. Humans are the most flexible and adaptive creatures on this planet. Dinosaurs could not adapt and died. We did not only survived, but thrived. We Figured it out and we will figured it out again. You will! So stop stressing yourself out and allow the life happen for you. Allow the crisis hit you. You will figure it out! Look back and remember all the thought crap you went through. 

 – I am not worried myself so much as I am stressing about my family. I just want everyone to be fine. I want everything to be ok.

Oh you my little naive hamster. You can not protect anyone from everything. You can only provide others with options to help themselves. You can only be there for them, when they need you. And this is exactly why you need to take care of yourself first. If you are not able to maintain your physical and emotional well being, how the hell can you help anyone else? 

The ugliest thing to witness is a young, strong, intelligent, well-educated person complaining and stressing about the future. This is your time to shine, you idiot! Pardon for my French, it just makes me mad. Millennials – this is your time! This is the exact moment to use your creativity and find new, better ways to work and live. You no longer have to be locked in the office box from 9 to 5. You are free to work remotely from anywhere in the world. Show the world your ideas. Tell everyone that there are better ways for doing things. This is a great time to implement new ideas in your personal and professional lives. This time bring a great opportunity to try new hobbies and activities. What if you had Leonardo Da Vinci sitting inside of you, just waiting for this exact moment to get out and show the world your paintings. Every morning I walk in the neighborhood park, I get to hear the man sings. So beautifully!Haven’t witnessed it prior the lock down. If you’re into sports, there is so much time in your life to train more, to get better, to improve. I expect to see so many new great books being published in the near future. people who enjoy writing, finally get the time to put the pen to work and express themselves on the paper. Write the poem, the article, do something. Use this time! At the very least, dye your hair red. If you always wanted – do it now, there is no need to go to the office. 

I don’t want to hear about how bad things are or how much worse they will get. I know for a fact – things will get bad. I welcome anyone to discuss the opportunities that will arise from this. I know people who enjoy this time and take the most of it.

However even if you see things differently, I appreciate your perspective. This is your choice to perceive the world the way you do.