By: iamAldonLopez | April 08, 2020
Last year, I wrote all things I have learned, the things I was grateful for over the past 29 years. I would say, it was another challenging yet very memorable experience for me. It was another year full of memories that can be added to my stories and can be shared across generations. Today, I’m writing this not only to focus on those things that were happening to me over the past 30 years but also to see if we are still grateful for what is happening across the world right now.
I just turned 31-year-old today and all of us may think that one of the greatest forms of self-love and self-appreciation revolves around making affirmations to yourself and treating yourself like you would treat a loved one, only much better. As odd as it may sound, wishing yourself a happy birthday helps you reflect on the life you’ve lived whilst inspiring you to make amends for the new year. How would you be able to wish yourself a happy birthday when everything around you is suffering from this pandemic? Would you still be able to celebrate your birthday knowing that there are some people begging for help? Would you still be able to enjoy even though you don’t know what is going to happen next?
We are not even in the quarter of the year 2020 and yet we encountered a lot of struggles already. There was a gas plant explosion in Lagos, Nigeria where 15 killed at least 15 people and destroyed about 50 buildings after a fire broke out in a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. The Locusts swam in East Africa where Hundreds of billions of locusts swarmed through parts of East Africa and South Asia in the worst infestation for a quarter of a century, threatening the food supply of tens of millions. The Food and Agricultural Organization said that the locusts could affect the food security of 25 million people. There was an earthquake in Turkey and the Caribbean where a total of 41 people were killed and more than 1,600 were injured in eastern Turkey after an earthquake rattled the region. The death of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others on board. The Taal volcano eruption in the Philippines which forced to shut down the country’s main airport with more than 240 international and domestic flights canceled. The communal riots in Delhi which killed 53 people. The devastating floods in Indonesia where 66 people killed 66 and forced almost 400,000 to flee their homes. The Ukrainian jetliner crash in Iran where 176 aboard killed. The Australian bushfire where more than half of all Australians have been directly affected. Now, the current situation which is the Corona Pandemic known as Covid19 which was first identified in Wuhan City, a city in China and I think the most tragic things that happening today as it causes significant human suffering and major global economic disruption and now the impact of this outbreak of Covid19 is beginning to be felt and will surely to have long-lasting effects. Among the things mentioned above, I want to ask these questions to everyone, are you still grateful? Do you still see a silver lining? Do you still have hope that this world can be a better place to live in? I would love to read your thoughts, please share/write your thoughts in the comment box below.
If I were to ask those questions. My answers are ‘YES’. Despite this outbreak that we are currently facing, I am still grateful because of so many things. I am grateful because my family is safe even though, we are miles away from each other. I am grateful because I still have a job even though, there were changes in my salary due to this pandemic. I am grateful that I have a nice home to go to every day. So many people are homeless. I am thankful that I have a warm bed to sleep in every night because some people don’t have a bed to sleep in. I am grateful that I never go to bed hungry. A lot of people are doing everything they can to get enough food every day to feed their families. I am grateful for my friends because I can tell them the things that I don’t feel like. And YES, you see? The world suddenly seems to be a lot quieter. We get to spend more time with family and friends. We get to figure out that traveling is not as necessary as it may seem. Schools can be online. People can work from home more often and beat traffic, and in the process reduce traffic on the roads. I think that these are the only few of the silver linings I have seen in this Covid19 outbreak.
This might be the most challenging birthday I have but I just take it as another lesson and blessings. Let just be grateful for starting with the fact that we wake up in the morning to another day ahead. We are all in this together. This too shall pass. #happybirthdaytome
