During this quarantine, I have realized that I spend too much time sitting in my room doing absolutely nothing. I  decided to give up the one thing I left at home that kept me sane during the quarantine. I gave up video games.    

       Starting off the week was the hardest because I was so used to staying up late and sleeping in. I changed that once I took on the challenge of giving up video games for a week. The first day was rough because I had to break my routine of sleeping in. I wanted to actually be productive during the day. I also wanted to take advantage of the time I have during this quarantine.

       On the third day of the week I got used to my new routine of waking up at 9 AM, working out, having a cup of coffee, and some toast. I realize that one of the most challenging tasks during this week without video games was trying to stay motivated. Waking up with nothing to look forward to was hard at first, so I tried to entertain myself with music, exercise, and meditation. I also realized that I can’t rely on certain things to help me with my anxiety. For example, I use exercise and music as outlets for my anxiety but sometimes they can make my anxiety worse. Without video games, I had to find a way to keep my mind distracted, so I remembered that Mrs. Farrell had a mindfulness Monday at the start of the week. 

       I started to do my research on meditation and I tried it. Midway through the week I started to meditate after I worked out, I sat in my chair with soothing sounds playing on my computer while I cleared my mind and created a state of euphoria. I meditated for half an hour the first day I tried it and that soon increased to an hour of meditation.

       Clearing your mind once a week is so satisfying. You truly get to think about life and how much you take for granted. Towards the end of the week I had really changed up how I’ve been living since quarantine started. I went from sleeping in until 2 PM to waking up before my 9 AM alarm ready to start my day and staying positive.

        The week was hard at first but was all around an amazing challenge that forced me to open my mind and clear all of the negativity during these hard times that everyone is going through.