It was March 8th when two of the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in Albania. I never though the virus would enter our small country, and I felt that things would only go downhill from here. A few days later, the government decided to lockdown Albania. It felt very weird at first, staying at home all day, trying to find ways to spend time since everything from school and football practice had been cancelled. Everything that was happening was so peculiar because for years now I had become accustomed to the heavy amount of training that occurred on a daily basis.  

Everything changed in a blink of an eye.  

If yesterday you could walk down the streets freely, today you were stuck at home, wondering where it all went wrong. While at first I was restless from staying at home all day, gradually lockdown panned out to be quite relaxing. I was physically very rested and mentally lighter, as my life changed from a fast-actioned lifestyle, to a slow paced, sedentary lifestyle. However, witnessing the cases and deaths reported on the news everyday was quite heartbreaking and the situation made me wonder whether a close family member would contract the virus. As traumatizing as this event was for millions of people, personally I learned many lessons, and I had a great deal of time to begin the process of re-examining my life. 

One of the most important lessons I learned was that health comes first in life. Witnessing different reports on the news made me aware of how people were struggling both economically and physically. For the first time in my life, I felt grateful and lucky for everything I have. I understood that some essentials, like food, water, and loving home, that I had previous taken for granted were important. I also realized the important role family plays in difficult moments. In addition, I appreciated how fortunate it is to have internet during these unstable times because it helped me socialize with others and entertain myself. Another thing that helped me throughout this time, was praying, as I believed God would support me and my family during this tough period, and therefore I felt safer internally. 

"Don’t take things for granted" was the main lesson learned throughout this part of my life. The phrase “taking things for granted" basically speaks for itself, pointing out how we should accept the good parts of our life without objection. All this ties to lockdown and how it was a huge turning point for me in learning these lessons. When something as severe as lockdown occurred, there is lot of time to think and reflect on the life before the pandemic, which makes you value “freedom” even more than you once did. When I thought about how lucky I am, it got me closer to my friends and family. I would start calling my grandparents almost every day and chatting to my friends often. During this abundant amount of time, I often thought about the unpredictably of life and I realized that living your life to its fullest is the key to happiness. The quickness of life doesn’t allow to appreciate the little things around you, and that’s why it is worth spending that limited time with the people you love and doing what makes you happy. 

A lot of the time in lockdown, I felt alone in my small room, with only the sound of my heartbeat to accompany me. During this time, having a stable mental health was very important for me, and finding hobbies I love to do, such as reading a book, playing a video game, watching a movie, made me forget about my problems and brought joy in such a depressing time. This shows that entertainment can get us through difficult moments that hinder us throughout our lifetime.  

Lockdown was an interesting time period for all of us. My lifestyle changed completely making me learn lessons that I would never have considered digging into. Not only did my life changed from a fast-actioned lifestyle to a slow paced, sedentary lifestyle, but I also learned many lessons that helped develop my character and make me a better person. I learned that health comes before anything, time is precious, and that we shouldn’t take things for granted. This event helped me reflect on myself and led me to a process of re-examining my life.