How to be productive when your country is going through a conflict
First thing first, my name is Verónica i’m 18 years old and since April 19th, everything is different, since me taking my gap year by obligation and my country being in the middle of a revolution, i’m from Nicaragua, you might heard about us in the news, we have been fighting against our corrupted government, we the millenials and the youngest are the majority of this civic revolution, we are in the middle of a genocide, because my people doesn’t have guns and we are being killed, this was a great impact in my life, and the main reason is because i’m the same age as a lot of boys who were killed.
My entire life was changed, i study electronic engineering in a public university in the capital, Managua, i didn’t even complete my midterm tests because i had to run away from the city on April 19th because it was too dangerous, on April 20th the government with the police attacked my city, a few days passed and two weeks later my university wanted every single student to come back, it was dangerous of course, but i was scared that if i didn’t do my tests i would lose my scholarship, we didn’t finished the week of classes, by the middle of the week they attacked again and so we had to go back to our hometowns, after that day i haven’t go back to my university, it has been almost two months. They tried to do online classes, it didn’t work, a lot of the students don’t have access to internet, and with all the situation sometimes it was difficult to concentrate, to work, even to live.
There was a time that i was totally burnt out, too many sad news, deaths rise, my city was in danger, and all of the stress, anxiety, depression came to my life like a fast ball that you know is coming but you don’t expect to hit you so hard, so my body was physically here but my mind was in Masaya, Managua, Jinotega, all the cities that were attacked and with all the families that were grieving and that was making me sick, mentally sick, i got to a moment where, everything i worked hard for like getting a good GPA, have discipline, getting ahead of assignments, sleeping better didn’t exist anymore, so because of that i got sad, and then i was scrolling trough my timeline and there was this amazing account called @sanar_nic and they have a picture that made a difference in me and make me want to heal myself and work again:
"Take a moment to thank your body for what it has helped you overcome. Thank your body by taking care of it"
And they are right, not only because they are psychologists, but because are words you know but you needed to hear from somebody else to realize how important they are, so then i begined again, and i’m working on it, and i want to share with you this amazing tips that i found out in the adversity, knowing that when you don’t have anything but the strenght to start again, you will, because you can and your body is telling you to do it.
1. It’s not called being indifferent when you need to take a break from the news, sometimes if you have breakfast, lunch and dinner watching terrible news you are not going to enjoy the blessing it is to have food on your plate, and, you will not enjoy the small moments you have sharing the food with your family, so for the best take a break from the news, sometimes being disconeccted is how you get connected with your reality that is your family and you, of course an hour or two reading the news and being informed is not bad, it’s actually the best so you can get knowledge about the current situation your country is going trough.
2. Be patient, if there is anything you have to learn before starting again is that you need to be patient, a flower to bloom needs to grow slowly by seasons, so don’t worry the more you are patient about your progress the more you advance, take it all easy, step by step, and not only with your growing but with your country situation, not all the conflicts are resolved instantly, they need time.. Of course be aware of the signs of advance in the situation, a little spark of optimism is well needed.
3. Sleep better, i couldn’t sleep for maybe two weeks because the night was when the police attacked, after they stop attacking my city it cost me to have a better sleep routine, so try with taking tea or milk, hot shower, or even hot water cloths in your neck, to relax, add some music if you like, there are a lot of amazing youtube videos or spotify playlists to hear.. But if you can’t sleep at all in the nights, taking breaks in afternoons and even in the mornings will make your body feel grateful and well rested to work.
4. Implement auto-study, try to talk with your professors or even search in the web your career syllabus, the topics of interest and try to download free books that will help you read and learn at every time, having the materials, do a schedule, write in a piece of paper the classes or topics you want to learn and stick to the schedule, it will be hard at the beginning but eventually it will make you feel that even if all the situation is getting worse you can take advantage of it and be a better person for your country’s future, you must believe that studying is the only weapon you have, knowledge will guide you trough the war and will make you a better human, there is no better weapong that an open mind reading a book.
5. Be active, do some exercise, dance, sing, write, draw , take photos, try something different, start making DIYs, talk with your family and friends, express your true self, don’t be scared of doing exercise in the living room while your mother is watching a serie, enjoy the little moments when you are together with your family and loved ones, enjoy your live, which is so precious and valuable that you still have it.
Don’t forget to help the ones that need your help, if you can, if you want, if you have, then do it.
Remind yourself that:
“The best way to honor the deaths, it is from the life, take care of your life and continue their fight”
