TAKE CARE OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH DURING THE SHUTDOWN

When the shutdown was announced, I wondered how I would cope staying indoors. I love running but there is no running during this period. My mind went back to Easter 2012 when we visited Robben Island. I first read Nelson Mandela’s Autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom in 1996. I was teaching at Chifamba Secondary School in Mudzi and one of the teachers brought in a brand new copy. I read it in about 2 days, normally if a book is interesting I will read it up to 1am.

I have now read the book 3 times and I will read it again. Nelson Mandela was an extra ordinary human being. When I saw his tiny cell /prison room at Robben Island, I wondered how the prisoners coped in such harsh environments. Reading Long Walk to Freedom shows how amazing the human brain is. To some the Apartheid government would rule for a long time. Nelson Mandela and his Comrades never lost hope. Their minds continued flying outside their confinements.

Nelson Mandela was able to exercise even in that cell and his mind was able to imagine a free South Africa and how they were going to achieve that dream. One of my best quotes from Nelson Mandela is, “ There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.”

As humanity we are going through a challenging time but I have no doubt that we will get through this, as humans we were created to overcome. The world as we know it will change but we will adapt, the same way we adapted with any change in the history of humanity. Scientists throughout the world are working overtime trying to understand this virus. Please take of your physical