What is keeping you busy these days being locked down at home, surrounded by limitations, lack of choices, space and extended hours of face-to-face meetings with family members? I guess just as much. A similar lists for us all I presume:

Extensive screen time, never-ending household chores, preparing meals, helping children with home-based learning, repeat...

Cranky kids, late nights, arguments with spouses, lack of personal space and 'me-time', boredom, repeat...

Are you thinking about this crucial question right now, “When will normal be back?” Or are you looking forward to the new normal? Food for thought: Something that you have been once so comfortable in might not necessarily be the kind of life that you desire or deem to be effective and productive in nature. The current abnormality of life which is getting on everyone’s nerves is one without entertainment, sporting-events, enjoyment of sports and games, social gatherings, dining out at luxurious restaurants and fancy cafes and possibly a few others on the lists which are all categorized under the non-essentials. So then, what are we all fussing about when a pandemic has done us a favour by removing all the non-essentials in our lives so that we can now give more attention to the essentials, which are truly our health, relationships and purpose in life. I would like to give you a suggestion. How about taking steps to rekindle priorities that were once taking its rightful place, so that the reality will become a healthy normality that will prepare yourself for any challenges or greater crisis that may come your way?

"...taking steps to rekindle priorities that were once taking its rightful place..."

Self-care is one of the most unselfish and ultimate care you can give as it is what keeps one going strong & going far, empowering and enabling one to be able to then show care to the people around them, especially our loved ones. This is especially vital for parents because of their 24/7 responsibilities towards their spouses and children or even elderly folks. With the sudden change in home environment, the once familiar and cozy nest that many yearn to come back to has now transformed to a mirror image of an office work station, a childcare center, a tuition school, a 24/7 eatery, a playroom, a fitness corner, an online gaming space, all under one roof, concurrently happening at simultaneous timings throughout the whole day. That is a disastrous news. Indeed, jokingly, it can be considered as another pandemic within an existing pandemic. When I look at self-care, it has to be holistic in nature, comprising the Physical, Emotional, Mental, Social and Spiritual. These are all important aspects of your health which are all interlinked and interdependent on each other. Let us look at each of the different components specifically in relation to the current situation we’re all going through.

Physical Care

Physical care consist of 3 key areas: Rest, Diet & Exercise. A simple way to help you remember its expectations is to always “Rest Adequately, Eat Sensibly and Exercise Regularly”. This will help you frame the way you deal with each areas with more care and wisdom. With the increase in screen-time & boundaries to travel around places, staying active indoors or outdoors will be a pertinent boost for your health. Take eye-breaks, movement breaks and get your body moving so that you can minimize the chances of your body craving for that sedentary lifestyle. Go for a jog! Follow a workout on Youtube! Climb the stairs. Mop the floor! Basically, move your big muscle groups and get your heart working a little harder than the normal resting rate. Do try to get your 7-8 hours of sleep daily since your sleep/wake time is under your purview, at least for some. Power naps in-between your Zoom meetings will be helpful too. Lastly, don’t indulge in snacking throughout this period just because the kitchen, refrigerator and snack bar is easily accessible to you. With some additional time on hand, it will be wise to start thinking more and preparing healthy meals for yourself and family. Eat more veggies and fruits and remember to hydrate yourself frequently with water (not Coke & coffee, good try!).

"Rest adequately, eat sensibly and exercise regularly"

Emotional & Mental Care

Emotional & mental health has become less foreign to many during this COVID19 episode due to the stress, fear, anxiety & frustration caused by many factors which came together as a package. Therefore, care for these areas needs to be doubled up for the emotional and mental well-being of all staying together under the same roof. Schedule personal breaks, practice mindfulness, grow spiritually, learn a new skill, talk and connect at the heart level with your spouse or close friends or read a book. These are all good habits to have not just in this season but every season of your life. This is a great time to start a good habit to replace some of the harmful and negative ones which we used to live with for the past decade. Be intentional in showing & receiving love from your loved ones and create opportunities to have fun together, play together (e.g. board games, family exercise workout, etc.) and laugh out loud together. In fact, staying active and moving your body is one of the best and effective ways to show care to your emotional and mental health. Treasure your family bonding time together, both in quantity and in quality. At the core of our soul, its security and stability is largely established by the relational connections and discipleship by our immediate family members. This is a hard yet sad truth in the 21st century family structures where it consists of dual-income families, with helpers and grandparents as the primary care-takers and where devices have overtaken the face-to-face communication opportunities at home.

Social Care

Social Care has morphed into a dimension that majority would not have fancy by choice but have proved necessary in times of social and physical distancing. You and I are created to be relational beings, one who craves to be connect and be connected, to love and be loved, to express and feel expressions, to belong and feel belonged to another human being which has similar capabilities and capacities to reciprocate. Some of us, especially the introverts would love to go into our hiding place, isolating ourselves, being deprived of personal space and time, at the same time being contented with just devices or books. However, as much as social distancing has been enforced, it does not equal social isolation or social deprivation. Face-to-face or voice-to-voice communications are highly encouraged. Call a friend, family member or a mentor (a near extinct mode of communication in this era) or using the various platforms of online meeting like Zoom, Facetime, Google Hangouts, Skype etc. which is the closest you can get to an actual meet up. Be creative, be explorative and be imaginative in the ways you can tap on online conferencing for social connections. Be it mealtimes, exercising or a simple check in times like this are much appreciated and highly underrated in terms of its impact.

"You and I are created to be relational beings..."

Spiritual Care

Spiritual care. The last component to touch on. You might not find it applicable but nonetheless, it remains as a core component in one’s life as this is the place of purpose, meaning and direction in life. In a crisis like this, many will start to go into a reflective mode, and start questioning themselves about life and its purposes because of the lack of control and certainty within. Are you one of them? If so, it’s an opportune time to start thinking about your purpose in life and begin your search for its meaning so that life does not become a vicious cycle of chasing after the wind, resulting in emptiness and a constant infilling of temporal emotional ups and downs leading to nowhere, a state of restlessness. For those who embraces spiritual care, intentionally make more space for yourself to pray, meditate, realign and re-establish your priorities in life so that the essentials become the important and not just the urgent. It is wise to first view life through the lens of this pandemic, its repercussions and numerous hidden hindsight messages which were revealed and discovered, leading to embrace life through the lens of our Creator, who fully comprehend the reasons behind all his creation, happenings throughout history till present day of 2020.

"...so that life does not become a vicious cycle of chasing after the wind, resulting in emptiness and a constant infilling of temporal emotional ups and downs leading to nowhere, a state of restlessness."

As we learn to build the foundations of self-care on points of vantage through this pandemic, let us not be too hurried in wanting to get back to normality as defined in conjunction to our life before COVID19, but to slow down, enjoy the stillness without too much distractions from the non-essentials. Reassess your life, restructure it to integrate self-care at every level of health, and recreate a new normal for yourself, for your loved ones and for your sphere of influence so that you get to enjoy the fruits of this season from the seeds of care which you sowed tirelessly and wisely.