We are now deep within the final stretch of this 14-day quarantine, as the twelfth day brings renewed energy and excitement towards the end.

Something that has stood out to me throughout these 12 days is that I have been able to remain weirdly positive. Every day that goes by hasn’t drained my mental state as much as it seems; this has been what I’ve managed the best over this isolation period.

For many, the most difficult part of dealing with the Coronavirus isn’t necessarily the symptoms that they experience. This is especially true for people that are younger. However, a major struggle that younger generations do face is isolation.

Being alone can have a devastating toll on the mental state of any person. There is a lot of negativity that naturally surrounds the situation, chopping at the base of a person’s perception of everything that is going on. This causes bad thoughts to come into the head; “I am alone, why me and my life sucks.”

If someone begins thinking like that, the perception of time becomes drawn out in a way that makes it uncomfortably long. In the case of a 14-day quarantine, this is a concept that becomes heightened as a person isolating is easily susceptible to the negativity of the setting.

For me, I feel like I have been able to make the “most” of every day, without being able to actually do much.

By keeping a mostly positive attitude, these past 12 days have gone by extremely quickly. Not only this, but my mental health honestly feels at a high. This is an interesting paradigm that doesn’t seem like it would make sense.

For many people, negativity in today’s world is subconsciously more attractive to associate with; most people would, I think, naturally pay attention to the more negative side of the world.

If we are to do this, life just dredges on with no pace, rhythm, or enjoyment. It causes a life that lacks much true enjoyment or happiness, with a feeling of life being weighty and long. It can be tough to rely on in many ways, but positivity is very important.

Isolating has made me understand the importance of just staying positive, both for my own mental sanity and to make the days go by quickly.