8 Ramadhan 1441.

It has been 44 days of Movement Control Order (MCO) established in Malaysia. 

And today is 8th Ramadhan 1441H. A week has passed like a blink of eye. 

Whatever we are going through at the moment will be scribbled as history, probably in another 50-100 years time. It is when the world is affected by a pandemic COVID-19 and almost all countries around the world experiencing lock down or partial lock down or movement control order like here in Malaysia.

You know just like the Spanish Flu in 1918.

What a deal.

Before that, let me confessed that I just knew the word lockdown from U-Know's Under Armour Ad for winter edition with themed "U-Know Lockdown" earlier this year. Lol.

Sorry tak penting dan menambahkan iman lansung. But seriously aku tak pernah dengar pun perkataan lockdown before ni.

On 18th March, we went through pre-MCO period until 31st March. For some, it was quite a deal since we cannot go to work as usual and such. 

Me myself, a self-proclaimed outgoing person (I guess) was thrived at first. Imagined the freedom of driving was restricted and there were so many road blocks with police. 

Then some of my close friends were asking if I was okay :D

Honestly, it was an adaptation. 

It was like a caffeine withdrawal syndrome. Or maybe like someone who is going through a sugar cutting period.

The first 2-3 days were horrible. It was not that I am anxious about what's going to happen but to stay at home, I mean, working at home, I was distracted most of the time. 

To get my thesis done previously has involved many trips to public uni's libraries. Cafes. And sometimes sneaked into Aqlili's PG room. It was not easy. I am not the type who can stay at home and get my job done. And guess what, I sent in my soft copy of thesis to the grad school at my previous office in Prudential. To that extent.

Well, that was me. Previously.

This MCO has taught me a lot about life.
Basically, it taught us to go back to basics. To look into ourselves, to sound a bit cliche. As a reflection for ourselves.

Especially this year where I just entered 30. 
It was like a "pause" year. 

And I just realized, that is why some people take more times to decide. That is because they are MINDFUL of what they are deciding. 

Mindful. 

And just before MCO, I planned to buy a book entitled "Contemplation".

You see, I was in awe a bit when I ironed out things just now. 

I don't know. I am not THAT busy earlier this year. There were of course things that played around in my mind, especially in job. I did (and sometimes do) felt unsettled with my current job. 

My life. I thought it was just a phase. 

Little did I know that we were going into this period and THAT probably a sign for me to slow down. 

Rain that welcomed 1st Ramadhan.

These are some things that I have learnt so far. Of Day 44 MCO. 

• Every feeling is valid right now. This is what I learnt during early MCO days. Because everyone (myself included) tend to read MORE comments on social media, so we tend to release our own opinion (without being asked lol) and easily bashing other people/party. It was when I realized that the situation kinda accounted for the actions we did. Because not everyone has same coping mechanism, especially towards changes in routine. Some can cope easily while others, it requires time. So we tend to express our feelings easily during these days.
• We tend to reflect ourselves more. There are times where we can easily "escape" from things we don't want to deal. Especially about our well being. Conditions of our hearts. Or family matters. Most of the time (previously) we tend to ignore because we are so busy with other things. Distracted, you see? So during this MCO with every movement were restricted we HAVE TO face the reality, the real condition of our hearts, and we cannot escape from them, now. It is time to mend things out.
• We can "start" to practice mindfulness. I read Raja Sarina's blog on this topic and it hits me every single point she mentioned. All these while, especially when we entered 2020, I do realized that most people and of course including myself, were really distracted most of the time. It was either by too much information (TMI) to be consumed, or haywired, or we kinda have so much to do with so little time (kononnya), so much social media accounts to update with. We tend to procrastinate. We hardly focus in what we are doing. OMG bitter truth right? Spit it out. So this MCO came to rescue of our well being. 
• I read a book called "Seni Berfikir yang Hilang" by Ust Hasrizal Abdul Jamil which was published with the sole intention to teach us on how to build a thinking framework in this TMI world.
• Lessen our time with social medias is helpful. But not everyone has the same coping situations during this time. Some people may have to binge on dramas, let them be. But, lessen our time to read on COVID-19 could help reduce the anxiousness.
• Try to do things that we hardly do during normal weekdays. This is one of the major things that I have learnt and realized during this MCO. I even discussed it with some of my close friends during video call, we always sighed of things that we cannot do because of lack of time. Now is the MCO where we have plenty, bountiful of time but still, we hardly do morning/evening adzkar :(
• Use this precious time to sort out our mind, responsibilities, people in life. It is during this "isolation" time that is best to take some moments and figure out things that are worth our attention. We felt so hectic previously because of uninvited dramas surrounding us. Or probably busy thinking about toxic people that came in and out our everyday lives. Or maybe unnecessary "tasks" that we focus in, and finally distracted to finish our own, real tasks. It is during this time that I feel soothe at its best :D Because of working from home now, I can be myself and ignore unnecessary people to get involve in my life.
• Practice of making lots of good intentions before every task. Before doing every single task, let's put some niyyah in. It is when we are intentional then we are less likely to rush through things. I learnt this from Sarina's blog too! 
• Now is the time to achieve, or to rest. You choose! For some people, they need to have short term goals in order to move forward. So they sign up webinars, countless online classes just to tick the goals off every time. But it truly depends on individual and we are not obliged pun to do so. Again, let them be. Let them eat cake. Gituu. For rest of other people, it is time to heal. To get some rest. Then please do so. Kenapa ayat aku dah macam motivator ceh.
• Now we might don't have freedom to move around, but inside. Of all other things to reflect, I did do some throwbacks to all things that happened before MCO. You know what I misses the most? My precious me-time. My maghrib or isyak session at Masjid al-Hidayah. My short errands to bookstore. My short visits to drink some coffee. My close friends :D my weekend morning at KLCC park, or any other park. Weekend evening strolling in Putrajaya with ibu. Attending usrah. And even traffic jams :D Seriously I missed all of them! Now that I realized I have taken all for granted previously, and you will see on how I will invest my time after this MCO ends. I am so gonna re-live every moment again and ignore all petty issues that kinda stuck in my head. No no no. I will be more selfish with my time after this. 

Well, that is all of major things that I realized. Of course there are millions of other tiny things that I learnt too. I have this aim to publish more post during this Ramadhan and may Allah grant me good ideas and hikmah for me to ponder and share more. 

Phew, this is long enough.

Sorry for the haywire thoughts. I need to read and write more after this. 

'Till then.