2022 had slowly gone by a quarter. These 3 months were not as tough as I thought despite the pandemic, I developed some new habits, and embraced the freedom of online school. Still, I missed having meals with my friends and going to the gym. With coivd situation turning better in HK, there is hope that we can resume normal life on 21st April (gym and dinner!!!).
I developed some new hobbies. I had a fun chat with my friend during hiking today, we are both grateful that we have developed new habits during the lockdown. She rebuilds the habit of running, while I stretch, read and write more.
Stretching always had been a pain for me, I would rather run, strength train than stretch lol. But sitting in front of the computer all the time, I feel my body is stiffer, having an immobility body doesn’t feel good. I *forced myself to stretch every morning, and it slowly becomes a habit, now I feel uncomfortable not doing so every morning lmao. I follow yoga with Adriene’s monthly playlist, it is so convenient as I only have to click on the video and hop right into it. Skipped the decision process!!
Reading is good in terms of relaxing and expanding knowledge in other fields. I like to read especially during breakfast, just some pleasure reading and alone time before working. Writing here becomes a way to integrate and summarize ideas from books and daily observations as I usually forget things if I don’t write them down lmao. I have a lot of ideas on my mind but always don’t have the time to do so (probably lazy😟. Lockdown gave me time to do so, and actually, writing doesn’t take so long once you have the idea.
At the same time, I stopped exercising (mostly strength training) since February. Exercising at home was no fun and I had less and less motivation to do so. I forced myself to exercise at first, as I shouldn’t give excuses to be lazy. But I really don’t enjoy working out at home (i know this is not good😂), so I stopped eventually. I stopped exercising for a month and ate well this month. I see this as an opportunity to allow my body to rest. Part of me hopes my period will come back asap, and I know my problem of over-exercising and under-eating. So maybe it is a good time to really stop a while? Although I am still on medication, I feel my periods are better, it seems I am making good progress.
(I still hike because that’s my way to relax, but other than that, I did rest a lot)
I am a huge believer in habits and enjoyed my solid routine developed these months.
Wake up → Stretching → make brekkie (pancake) and coffee → read → work/ school/ hiking → lunch
The more choices you have to make for simple tasks, the less time for freedom. — Atomic Habits
It seems boring but this eliminates many choices I have to make. Having my schedule routinized, I skipped some decision-making and have more energy to make other decisions. I will still keep my morning routine after restrictions are lessened, it gives structure to the day and makes it a good start!
On the contrary, I put less focus on school, just finishing what I have to do. I already achieved my goal — going to exchange, also gpa curve does not increase as much as I thought even though I got some As the last semester, so I am less motivated to aim high hahaha. My goal now is to make sure what I hand in is acceptable and not having C-range courses. I have high standards for myself tho, so quality shouldn’t be very bad. I am gonna finish what’s on my hand and enjoy my life by spending time in nature.
The secret of happiness is to see the marvels of the world, and never forget drops of oil on the spoon — The Alchemist.
The 5th wave of pandemics and government policies are making us feel desperate, but on the bright side, I still find some things to be grateful for. Here are some of them.
- Spent more time with my family and our relationship improves! Tho arguments still exist but that’s normal hahaah
- Went on some great hikes with a high school friend that haven’t met for more than 2 years
- Ate a lot of yummy home-cooked meals made by my mother
Looking forward to Q2, I have something hoping to achieve:
- Learn to let go of things that are out of my control eg jobs, relationship
- Train hard in the gym
- Explore islands in HK
