Kara: Welcome to the podcast I am your host Kara
Alexia: Alexia
Jaelyn: and Jaelyn
Kara: And we’re gonna to be talking today about living life to the fullest during the pandemic.
Alexia: So Jaelyn, what do you think living life to the fullest means?
Jaelyn: During the pandemic? Living life to the fullest I feel like that means that people need to stop worrying and put their lives into the negative even though it was a really scary moment but we eventually have to look forward. We can’t live in the past. We need to all get up and continue with our lives and always remain positive despite whatever happened to the families. And it is saddening, but I think that’s what it needs to remain strong.
Alexia: I think people during Covid were just dwelling on the fact that they missed out on a lot and they got in like this depressed mode and I feel like them holding themselves back really just made them feel a lot of emotion.
Kara: Yeah I mean I agree I think that living life to the fullest during the pandemic just means enjoying it like honestly a lot of people got laid off and were able to stay at home for the first time in like who knows how long just taking little moments to enjoy what you have and be grateful because you know a lot of families lost other members in their family. People got severely sick so, you know we just want to talk about living even despite what’s going on even if it seems a little grim. There’s still moments you can find to have fun and enjoy yourself.
Alexia: I feel like a lot of students especially went through like this whole depression and like failure of motivation and trying to continue doing school and finding the time to get up from bed and do their homework and study.
Jaelyn: And I feel like that every covid story out there is meant to scare people and I guess that is the whole point, but it’s always so negative negative negative we need to think about the positive like us, like high school students going to lock down, college students going to lock down like everything just shut down and I think it’s all time for us to get up and like move on.
Kara: Yeah I mean I think that from students to even workers that were laid off. You know being at a company so many years I mean I’m sure that that’s a lot of stress and you know you’re not able to you know live life to the fullest or enjoy really because you’re working so hard and I think that being able to be laid off during this time was a good way to introduce you know living life to the fullest and enjoying your life, being able to sleep in, being able to enjoy and like spend time by yourself and actually doing things that make you happy and bring joy to your life.
Alexia: Especially when a lot of the people worries where how am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to go about buying groceries for the house? and all that stuff
Alexia: And I know that especially for students they were just worried about like how school was going to continue whether it was gonna to go in person and online and for a lot of people they started college online and they didn’t get the whole experience,
Alexia: I was one who was able to experience it first hand with one of my friends.
Jaelyn: And I think that students who worry about or parents who worry about it they need to realize that it’s not their fault and it’s okay to be low especially in times like times this or times back then during the start of the pandemic it’s not their fault.
Jaelyn: All you got to do is just keep working hard. Stay with your family because at times like this family is most important than surviving.
Jaelyn: Because let’s say you’re surviving you’re not happy or something happens to your family you know.
Kara: Yeah I think that living life to the fullest you know during the pandemic, pre-pandemic and you know post-pandemic I think a lot of people realize how they weren’t really living during this time you know. Being able to have more time to think and to be able to just be in your own thoughts. I think many people realized that. You know, we only have one life, so we have to enjoy it we have to spend time doesn’t always mean going out, but just taking time for yourself, taking a walk, going to the park, you know going to the beach sitting by the water like being able to be more free with your time and not so limited or restricted or too tired to even be able to do anything and you know I definitely.
Kara: I understand that I definitely spoken to a friend that was telling me about things that he did it as he was laid off during this time and how his mindset changed from you know just working in you know being in a routine all the time to just do whatever it is you know his mind felt like doing that day.
Alexia: What do you think people can do when it comes to starting to live their life now and how people can, if they’re still in that little funk, like how can they get out of it.
Kara: I think it’s important to remember that again we only have one life and you know you may know when you’re about to die you may not, so it could happen randomly or you can be sick and just slowly be dying, but to think about your last moments you know what do you want to remember about your life. You know that you were stressed out or stressing about things you can’t even control working nor can you change sometimes. And not really enjoying every day. Every day you can find something to do to have a little bit of fun I guess. We can always find little moments you can always find things to do.
Kara: You know just start small like if you like to read, start reading you know. Dedicate time every day to do something that you like that brings you happiness that makes you feel relax and feel rested and feel you know inspired and you know not just too tired or you know sad and down.
Alexia: I know something. My friend, Natalie, was telling me that for her to get like back into a routine and slowly get back into living her life she just like woke up, made her bed like force herself out. She would go on bike rides, go walk to her friend’s house so they can go just like get Starbucks like even if it’s just like
Alexia: Quick five-minute run like she would do that and try to get out of her regular routine and I know something that she kind of helped her get out of her funk was starting to plant. She became a little plant mom, a little plant lady.
Kara: Like a little garden, okay.
Alexia: Yea, so she started propagating plants and doing all kinds of stuff so that kind of mentally helped her relieve stress from everything that she had going on because not only was she focusing on getting her online schooling figured out she also has three younger siblings. One of them is in high school, one in middle school and elementary so like she was kind of setting up their school online too so she wasn’t just worried about hers. She was like, “My brothers aren’t enjoying their you know their high school experience, their middle school/ elementary.”
Alexia: Like whatever it was she was like worried and it was like taking a toll on her, so she started just slowly pushing herself out more and from there on we go to views, we go to the beach like we distance ourselves from people but still tried go out.
Kara: Enjoy
Alexia: and have fun.
Kara: You need to.
Jaelyn: I think a lot of people need to explore new individuality. I think I feel like that would be another great way of getting out of that funk. They need to learn their new selves. They need to explore their spiritual health, mental health, physical health like being at home during the pandemic, it all made us stay inside, we’re all in bed and I feel like our energy, our mental energy, our social energy just depleted because.
Jaelyn: We never had anyone to talk to during those times.
Alexia: Especially if you’re living like on your own or with people who don’t relate to what you’re going through. I know for me for example, I live with, in total there’s five of us, but it’s my grandma, my uncle, my mom, so obviously they can’t relate to the stress and mental state that I’m in and my sister who is only five years older than me. She could and couldn’t relate in a way because you know she had her high school experience as a senior, I didn’t. She went to college in person, I didn’t, so it’s like really hard to relate and feel comfortable talking to someone. So definitely like having my friends was something helpful and I think that’s something people should consider. Like although to a lot of people, family is everything as I agree family is everything sometimes you can’t always go to your family, so I feel like those friends or.
Alexia: acquaintances sometimes can help you get out of anything cause they two are going through it, so you guys can all like go through it together.
Kara: Yeah I definitely agree I mean for my friend, Ashton, you know he always wanted to travel. During this time, he got laid off he just drove to Texas you know. He decided like I was going to drive to another state and you know see what’s out there and just enjoy it so that’s what he did and he just started like literally just enjoying
Kara: And just going out and just trying different foods. Just trying different activities to enjoying time like in a pool. You know and just being in a new state from there he went to Florida or like the Miami area and just enjoying himself. And I think that that’s what it’s about, you just have to enjoy yourself. Like you said, you have to have friends that you know yeah I encourage you to do things as one. It’s hard like we are all busy. We have some type of stressors whether it’s school or work or something else so you know it’s definitely hard, but to just find a moment every single day that you can devote to something. It doesn’t even have to be that big, but something that makes you feel good and it makes you better throughout the day.
Alexia: I feel like sometimes it’s not even just the mental state that stopping somebody from doing and living their life. It can be the judgment from others. I know that as the pandemic was happening the whole 2020 year maybe like halfway through it people started slowly like getting over it and they wanted to go out and they started to go out and a lot of people on social media like if they were if to post, they get bashed for it or like do you not understand the circumstances we’re in right now like and you’re out there and I just feel like that’s
Alexia: That’s a personal decision. I feel like if someone wants to go on in their life whether we’re in the pandemic or not, that’s not their choice. If they wanna go out and expose themselves then that’s totally up to them. It’s their health and obviously if they’re doing it they know what they’re doing. Like they’re being safe about it so on and so I feel like people should just let others live their life because internally and mentally you don’t know what that person is going through.
Kara: Yeah exactly. So what do you guys think?
Jaelyn: To be honest the start of it, I was going through a whole bunch of not good things, the c word, crap. Like I lost most of my friends. The only person I ever hung out talk with was my boyfriend. I wasn’t close to my family. I think I was just really closed in but slowly towards that, I’ve kinda just told myself like dude get yourself together you need to stop acting like this focus on your school, focus on yourself yeah there’s gonna be like problems, expectations from family, from friends that you used to have before but this is all about you.
Jaelyn: Yeah that’s how I felt.
Alexia: Personally, I honestly feel like COIVD helped me. It made me realize a lot within relationships, family and friends. It made me realize who I had and who I didn’t. It helped me work myself physically and mentally. I used to be very overweight so this past two years starting COVID is one because I had so much time on my hands you know I decided to learn how to cook I. Working out at home and this is just re opened I went and it got myself in shape mentally and physically. Mentally sometimes I do get stress.
Alexia: And I do get like a little depression moments but I mean who doesn’t? But I tried my hardest to just push through them and I started working at a school in August when they opened up back in person so that was definitely something new for me but I honestly feel like this whole COVID situation made me a better person.
Kara: Yeah
Jaelyn: I feel you.
Kara: I honestly I agree with that I like I resonate with that. I think that I felt the same way like it just kind of changed where I just kind of like got into gear where I was like okay I’m going to spend this time wisely because we we didn’t know at that point how it was going to be and so I started working out as well I started.
Kara: Well actually just go to like the park hit work out like I was still good after knowing that I kind of like a little routine down and I would just spend time like kind of centering myself mentally, journaling, listening to podcasts, reading more.
Kara: I read like three to five books in like three to five books in like a couple of months. Um what else? just like you know enjoying my me time really because I feel like I was working I was working at a hotel this time I had just dealing with people all day and you know I don’t always like to interact so spending time by myself was very beneficial and I think it just helped me enjoy more time to myself and like just isolate from everyone else.
Alexa: I thinks its important to remember is just whatever makes you happy just do it. ho cares what people are going to say because not everyone’s going to agree with you, not everyone has the same perspectives, the same goals.
Alexa: So I feel like pushing forward is something that you’re just going to have to do whether you like it or not. At the end of the day it’s your life and it’s only going to end up affecting you.
Kara: Yeah exactly, very well put.
Jaelyn: Everyone that is listening right now just go. Like forget Everyone who’s bringing you down to just focus on yourself.
Kara: Yeah yeah you just have to do what makes you happy and what’s going to get you through.
Kara: Like its just hard even when you wake up so many things we have to do when I wake up like we do in the morning I do not feel like doing half of the things I have to do.
Kara: To really wake me like I have to do like seventeen things today and I only have this short amount of time like that’s stressful enough I’d rather just get up and you know spend time like getting myself ready and you know taking my time and not rushing and doing something or planning something out every single day that I can do that I know is gonna bring me some type of you know smile, joy, laughter whatever just do it.
Kara: I mean honestly it can’t be worse you know it can’t hurt to add ten extra minutes to do something that’s gonna make you feel better in life give me some happiness to go on to the next day.
Alexa: yeah like just get up and get ready would you rather do what you got to do even if you don’t have anything to do get up and get ready because if don’t look good you don’t feel good if you look good you feel good and I honestly just feel like people just need to go ahead and start living their lives because
Alexa: There’s this quote I’ve heard before I don’t know where it’s from but this quote that goes “people live to work when you’re supposed to work to live.” Like you’re supposed to work so you can live your life not just get up to work and pay your bills you know. Like yeah there’s responsibilities but that’s why you have to be smart it so that when you have money you can go out, I have extra money I’m going to go to Cancun I’m going to go to Puerto rico and treat myself to these bad bunny tickets.
Kara: Exactly. Yeah.
Jaelyn: Love you first before any bills or like or any other person.
Kara: Yeah exactly. I think that I think that is a good point love yourself so love yourself enough to treat yourself enjoy and you know enjoy and have a little bit of fun.
Jaelyn: Aw.
