WHAT CAN WE DO NOW ?
By the middle of January 2021, I would have completed the course of vaccination against Covid 19
Apart from Israel, no other country would be Covid 19 passport ready! by then. Cuba would be safe but still the population would be bound by strict social distancing. Other countries in my orbit perhaps not ready until the end of the year. India is hoping to vaccinate 300 million by June, 25 percent of its population.
Brazil and the rest of Latin America (perhaps with the exception of Argentina and Chile) has large proportion of the people who do not believe that Virus exists despite loosing their fathers or aunts in the epidemic!
In France, the vaccination is proceeding at a snails pace but I have good faith in the French Health Care system and once they begin, vaccination would be offered to those who desire it, France has a large proportion of people who do not wish to have the vaccine.
Exericse is an element that is missing in my life. There are no walking the long halls of airports or lugging of luggage or walking around the bays and souqs..I have to find a place to exercise, walking being my favourite pastime..
If someone says they have no time to exercise, what they are saying that they do not know how to proportion their time. I felt such envy for my colleague from Phnom Penh who has a very busy life running the NGO mopotsyo.org but he bicycles to work, 10 km there and back per day and then on weekends escapes to the hideaway 15 km away, in bicycle. So he gets to exercise between one and two hours per day without actually having put a time away or noting in your diary: Exercise or Have Coffee with colleague, or some such banality. This is a good example of how your LIFESTYLE has EXERCISE as a part. In La Habana, because we walk every where I do not have to look at my iphone to see how many steps I have taken per day, it is always in excess of 10 000 steps.
Overthinking, re-thinking of problems. I have become aware of this acutely during this pandemic where people spend an enormous part of their time, worrying about things that wont come true. Pandemic and constant number crunching on TV by dour faced presenters only augmented the problem.
Studies have shown that only one of your ten worries would actually become reality. No wonder the song, Dont Worry, Be happy was very popular all over the world, especially in resort areas of the world where worried people hurried to be among happy people
If you are worried about something and find yourself thinking and rethinking and mulling and regurgitating over and over again, put it aside and think about something else. My new watch reminds me when to stand up and when to take deep breaths and to me it is not a technological marvel but a monument to the human failure and how the society has failed its people
If one more person tells me that they have no time in MIami .. I will begin to seriously think of not returning from Havana where people do have time. Right now people have idle time, and pandemic induced leisure time and during this time, do something that is not characteristic of you. I can think of no other diversion than to learn another language: download duolingo among other apps freely available.
During the pandemic exile from my normal, nomadic life, I have improved my language skills, including my native tongue, English (I try to learn one new word a day: yesterday's word was ALTRICIAL the opposite of PRECOCIAL) and definitely improved my skills in Spanish (lots of written messages and whatsapp telephone calls) and written French ( I still have difficulty communicating well in this language) and like a dream come true, my Brasilian portuguese skills have risen by leaps and bounds! thanks to a paulistana friend.
At the domestic level, I bought an airfryer and see whether I can improve my least developed of skills, Cooking!!
Doing something different from what you have been doing, or going away from your routine, is so good for your brain, your character and also your happiness.
So whether it is gardening or mountain climbing, go for it .
Talk it over in this time of not much opportunities to do so.This is what has kept me occupied since March 2020. what started as a tickle has become a deluge which I welcome and grateful since it kept my mind very active . Questions about Medicine (not just in my specialty of Endocrinology but Health and Nutrition in general) but also psychology, politics, fake news {I pay for my news}. This has been a true pleasure be of service to people most of whom i do not know but call me recommended by friends: yesterdays' consultation included Dermatology (dyshidrotic eczema), Oncology (Glesson 3 plus 4 classification) and an hour long conversation leading to midnight, about Nephrology and Microbiome. there were psychologically related enquiries from Cuba, Malaysia, India and Brasil.. the usual circle of my movements. I am grateful for all these people who kept me occupied and made sure that my brain worked its share sharpening its skills.
Find a person to talk to, if you can do this in person, it would be good, but keeping the social distance rules. or find a person who needs to talk.. and lend them your ears.
In contrast to the people who worry unnecessarily (see above) optimists tend to be happy, everyone knows that. Even as children we knew the glass was half full and as we became adults we changed to seeing the glass as half empty. Optimists make mistakes while doing chores but do not feel inordinately bad about it. So go ahead and make mistakes. I believe that optimism is one of the best gifts one can give in life and to be cultivated from childhood onwards.
The above illustrations and the ideas were in BBC news. The words are mine but the illustrations are from BBC.
