It’s here. We always hoped that it didn’t happen. But this was inevitable, forever itching the back of our minds. It’s another lockdown. Even if I didn’t hear about it through the news, I knew it was here when I saw the shelves of empty toilet paper. Well, there was still the 2ply. But I’d rather wipe my ass with my hands than use the sandpaper that they try to advertise as toilet paper.
As far as things go, New Zealand is pretty lucky. We’ve had it good so far. We’re an isolated island, so it’s a lot easier than other countries who are not as serendipitously located to help control who comes in and out.
Some of you may be dreading this, terrified of how you’ll be able to handle things, scared that you may slump into a depressive state. It doesn’t have to be this way. Don’t see this as an infringement on your right to grow as a person. See this as an opportunity. Everyday you should be striving to become a little bit better than you were yesterday. Being in a lockdown is no exception. Do you really want to be in a hedonistic struggle between deciding if you’re going to get drunk, high, or eat yourself into a coma?
Most of you will be getting paid to stay at home and do whatever you want. Might I remind you, that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. You cannot spend this whole lockdown wasting your time, feeling sorry for yourself or cracking open a beer the moment you wake up. This is not a solution for a lack of meaning you will find yourself without. You need to provide yourself with meaning, or you will get depressed. Meaning is not externally granted. It is only something that comes from within. You need to substitute the meaning that you usually find within your normal life, and find it in something else under these lockdown conditions.
Do something new. Learn about a subject you knew nothing of. Pick up a new hobby. And don’t you dare say “I don’t know how to do that”. This is not an acceptable excuse when we are living in the age of information. YouTube contains guides for EVERYTHING you could possibly want to do. Here’s a few things you can do:
Learn about cryptocurrency and blockchain
Read a book
Rearrange a room in your house
Tidy up your kitchen cupboards
Learn how to juggle
Exercise more
Teach yourself some new recipes
Organise that place in your house that you know needs organising
Learn about evolution
Get things done. Commit to some personal edification - you will thank yourself later. You have a whole 24 hours in your day. You can get drunk at any other stage in your life. But you will never get paid to become a better person like you will now. Do you think you could challenge yourself to take just an hour or two out of your day to improve yourself by just a little bit? Instead of dreading how much weight you’re going to put on, make it a goal instead to lose weight. There’s no reason why you can’t. Challenge yourself to come out of this lockdown a better person.
Sadly, it is a source of pride for people to say “I spent basically all of lockdown drunk.” - This is not something to be bragging to others about. Really think about that statement, and compare that with “I lost 3kgs, learnt how to cook 10 new meals, installed a new bathroom shelf and read 5 books.” Which person would you rather be?
And you know what you should say if lockdown gets extended?
“Good”
What about if we go into another lockdown in the future?
“Good”
It’s more time to grow as a person. More time to develop some life long skills that your future self will thank you for.