Mental Health and Coping during Covid-19 Pandemic

Today's world is full of stress that makes us tired and sick. That's part of living, but we need to stay healthy and full of vitality. We need to let go of the stuck energies affecting our health. We have to release what's unwanted on our bodies. We need to be well.

How can we become healthy when our world becomes smaller, yet only a few choices are left? How can we show vigor when not feeling about our best selves?

The Covid-19 pandemic is an addition to our stressors. It's making us sick day by day. The news updates we read and hear regularly cause anxiety and sadness. 

We can't just ignore the news and stay calm at all times. To feel empathetic is fine. It's normal to feel the suffering of other people. It's normal to sympathize with those whose lives were lost and who are still fighting for their lives to survive.

We can't just be feeling that way again and again. We can choose to stay above our lower emotions, and we can start to build up ourselves to become strong and unbreakable.

Dealing with our mental health during this pandemic is essential to our well-being. We need to continue living with sanity and clear consciousness. A sound mind is what we need for clear and best judgment. 

We can always release our stress, anxiety, and fatigue wherever we are. We don't need to physically go to the beach at this time of the pandemic. We can sit still in the comfort of our homes or lie in bed.

Meditation is our best weapon to release stress and peace of mind. Since we can't travel a great distance to our favorite beach destinations, we utilize the power of our minds through meditation.

We always choose an ocean or a beach whenever we meditate. The saltiness of the water extracts the stuck energy from our bodies. 

When we think of an ocean or a beach, its saltiness becomes a powerful extractor of our negativities. Same as physically visiting an actual beach, but this time we imagine and recall vividly the beautiful memories that made us feel good about ourselves. 

Releasing the stuck energies in our physical, emotional, and mental bodies enables us to plan and energize our future. 

This pandemic shouldn't make us feel bad about ourselves and the world that we're living in. We can always feel good and choose our thoughts, emotions, and intentions wisely.

We may be unable to do as much in our community or help save as many people as possible. However, in our little way, we can start the healing on ourselves first. The healing always starts within us. That's our gift to ourselves and our contribution to our community -- to stay healthy and happy.

Despite the pains and sufferings, we share our best selves by choosing wellness over illness. Being physically fit, emotionally stable, and mentally healthy in these times of uncertainty.

©️ 2021 Del Cusay

Boracay's Environmentally Conscious Tourism

Boracay Island in the Philippines is one of the top tourist destinations and remains one of the top beaches in the world. 

Boracay Island in the Philippines is one of the top tourist destinations and remains one of the top beaches in the world. This island is recognized annually by various international magazines and travel websites as one of the world's best. And since then, it has contributed to the influx of tourists from all over the world.

What I like about Boracay is its diversity, from different nationalities and locations where it suits the taste and preferences of the tourist. It's like a melting pot of cultures and personalities, making it a world-class tourist destination.

Boracay Island may seem like a perfect paradise, but it has its hidden imperfections uncovered. I've seen it! I was there in April 2016, about two years before President Duterte made an order for the island's closure for rehabilitation in April 2018.

For years, big businesses like hotels have deceived tourists and guests by providing reading material explaining the algae that make the shoreline dark green and unsightly. I can't believe how they disseminate disinformation by making it appear to be a natural occurrence.

I saw the big pipes from establishments that excrete wastewater to the shore where untreated sewages are flowing, making the water in the area dark green and dirty.

The president called it a cesspool, and that observation is very evident. Then he ordered a 6-month closure of the island. That move was a big sacrifice for the thousands of businesses and island workers and the number of affected tourists. The projected billions of pesos lost for the island's tourism paved the way to pursue its rehabilitation for intended revitalization.

What can we do to help our tourism significantly impact its sustainability and environmental protection? I believe that the 6-month rehabilitation of Boracay made us realize that money from tourism alone won't make us truly rich and progressive. But our environmental consciousness as a tourist will help destinations like Boracay to be sustainable and highly livable.

Tourism is our number one industry, booming before the Covid-19 pandemic came. When the lockdown happened, tourism was down and almost dying, but we've seen the clear waters of Boracay. Business establishments and tourists mainly contribute to the island's pollution.

Do we need a 6-month rehabilitation of our topmost islands every six years? Well, that would surely hurt tourism, but it's for the good of the environment. We must balance our tourism and its environmental impact to call it a paradise.

There's progress in Boracay compared to the first time I visited the island in 1998. It's becoming too commercial, and the island may have lost its serenity and ambiance due to its fast-growing present-day development.

We need to boost more and promote our tourism. We have the best islands and beaches, but we also need responsible Businessmen for us to be environmentally conscious tourists. We leave no trace but footprints and great memories. 

When we can travel again without restrictions, we'll become better tourists. And together, we help revive our tourism and our God-given paradise.

©️ 2021 Del Cusay

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Easter Sunday 2021: The Promised Land

Where will our destination be after this Covid-19 pandemic? Will a promised land be waiting for us, just like God's command for the people's great exodus in ancient Egypt? Will our top leaders become like Moses, who will make a great sacrifice and lead its people safely away from threats and destruction?

The hostility and uncertainty during this pandemic brought misery and deep suffering in our lives in modern times. The powerful and influential became strong, and the weak and poor became poorer.

That's our current reality. With billions of people suffering, we feel the oneness of humanity for a great plan of the massive exodus. This time is to end the pains and suffering of the pandemic that's killing us.

Moses protected its people under his leadership, and they succeeded and reached the promised land. Today, it's the time our leaders must follow the footstep of Moses and hear the voice of God to protect and fight for its people against the unseen enemy.

Religions of the world play a role that influences the nation's government and its leaders to save us and overcome this great challenge of our time. 

Our leaders should keep going even after the end. We may never know how long we will fight and remain steadfast. But one thing is sure God speaks to the leaders of our land amidst the noise and chaos.

We hope our leaders listen to the voice of God that speaks to them and will accept the crosses entrusted. We all have our crosses we carry because God is testing our faith in the greatest challenge of our time. 

We'll all live in the promised land when we survive this pandemic. Hopefully, our nation and leaders will be wiser. We'll eventually become great believers, and all our lives will become better than ever.

©️ 2021 Del Cusay

Holy Week 2021: The Path to Salvation

We live on earth for a purpose. We have a mission to fulfill for the glory of God and our salvation.

That's the promise of Christ. We live to do good and find a deeper meaning to our existence, and then we live in eternity when we die.

But how can we find a meaningful living amidst the threats and chaos in our times? With the Covid-19 pandemic, we all seem to suffer, and many people are getting sick and dying.

Have they fulfilled their purpose? Their mission? 

The rich and the poor, the young and the old, the weak and the strong are dying. No one seems spared once infected by the deadly unseen enemy.

A year has passed, and we repeat our mistakes. It's like suffering continues until a lesson must have been learned. It's a cycle, and we keep experiencing a predictable turn of events. We know what will happen next. We've been there, and we're just watching a rewind and another season of the same circumstances.

Are we in control of all of these? Is God in control?

One thing that Christ sacrificed is his passion, death, and resurrection to save humanity from sin. He endured sufferings for us to understand our nature of living. And not to be cowardly or defeated by our demons and weaknesses.

If the world is doing its cleansing, we all suffer; either we survive or die. We're the first or the last in line. Eventually, our fate is that we die. Not our will, but His divine will.

Who will save us? What happens when we die?

Christ taught us that, He is the way, the truth, and the life. He'll be eternally in our hearts and minds when we listen and follow Him. Our path to salvation will always have Divine guidance. Our salvation is to live each day with faith in our hearts. To track and be guided, to suffer and survive, to be crucified and resurrected.

©️ 2021 Del Cusay

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