What to Do When Your Country Goes Into Lock-Down

A short piece on staying happy.

A view of Lion’s head from the summit of Devil’s Peak. Robben Island off to the right, too. Story about this photo to follow.

Its long been said that living in the moment is one of the key factors to remaining happy and building a healthy mind is being present.

Living in the moment is all we have. Worrying about the future is futile. Living in the past is foolish. Right now, right here, is all there is to life.

In South Africa, we’re gearing up for 21 days of complete shutdown starting tomorrow at midnight (26 March). The only thing we’ll be allowed to leave the house for is medicine and food. Even that movement is limited.

For someone who spends a minimum of one hour outside every day, that’s scary. But I know it’s necessary and for the good of the people out there who are worst affected by this virus.

Then, yesterday on a run, this thought came to mind. I splashed it out on my cellphone while sitting on a rock watching the sun set of on one of my favourite views in the world: the Cape Town city bowl.

This is where I wrote a draft of the story below. Lions Head is the mountain silhouetted against the setting sun in the background. Signal Hill is the ridge to the right looking over the Cape Town Harbour and City Bowl.

Before I get there, as a primer of sorts, here are a collection of my favourite quotes about this subject.

Quotes About Being…