Time. That is the word on everybody's minds everyday, but more importantly now. Sometimes we have too little of it. Sometimes we feel we have too much of it. Sometimes we feel we wasted time. Time is our most precious gift.
This week is my 3rd week of self-quarantine. This measure was put into place by my provincial government and to tell you the truth, I feel this has deeply affected my mental health in a positive way.
Not only do I have more time for myself to do the things I wanted to do, but I also have the luxury of doing the things that bring me joy. In the first week or two, I felt the overwhelming need to be productive. I made sure to work out everyday (with an active rest day of yoga or strength training every second day) and made sure to go out for walks. I also had more time to work on my content and spend time with my fiance, which has been a huge plus!
However, in the later half of week two, I learned I was laid off from my job. My productivity slumped for a bit, then I realized that I had a special gift; I had time and I did not want to waste it.
Since then, I have continued to follow through with my consistent activity of staying fit everyday, working on my blog, and enjoying time with my partner. However, I wanted to buy a video game recently called Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The reason I held myself back was because I had previously played this game when I was younger and I find I become obsessed with a previous version of this game. These days, I am proud of how far I have come and was scared I would lose it all if I bought this game.
Then I realized something, "Do I really think that I am that uncontrollable that I will do nothing but play this game?" So I realized the game was not so much of a problem, but my mindset was.
I bought the game last night and guess what? I liked it even more than the one I played years ago. It also brought back feelings of nostalgia to see the same characters and similar layouts, but it also made me realize it was a game that made you feel calm.
In times where we are unsure of how the world will look tomorrow, these games offer a nice release and give you control over your environment, even in game form. As well, because this game made me happy and seemed to relieve some of my mental health concerns, I felt like it wasn't as big of a waste of time as I thought.
All this to say that nothing is a waste of time if it benefits you. Sometimes, you need to take the leap and find out what works for you and what doesn't. If something does not work for you, then you can either adjust how much time you spend on that activity (like 2 hours of video games a day), or choose to focus on something else.
Either way, time is what you make of it so make sure you do something that matters to you.