What have I learned during COVID 19?

A friend posed this question to me the other day.  This pandemic has really given me the opportunity at this point in my life to reflect on how I have grown as a person during this crisis. What do I realize about life, myself?

1) I NEED more time to be a “mom” while being a physician. I love being able to take care of my patients but I’ve also always wanted to be a mother and it is necessary to really carve out a significant amount of time each week to be present for my child.  Children only want to be with us at the end of the day.

2) I DON’T need a lot to be happy. My parents who are Haitian immigrants, always taught me the value of family, shelter, passion for a career, health, and love. They always emphasized that material things will not bring happiness or fulfillment. This crisis has only confirmed their words of wisdom. Health, freedom, family/friends and love is EVERYTHING!

3) “Your mind is your strongest muscle”. A person from Peloton said this at a workout and it really stuck with me. Our mindset is everything.  How we see ourselves, how we push ourselves to accomplish goals and dreams, how we strive to achieve and how we battle through obstacles all starts with our perspective. You can do anything with mental strength.

4) “Fitness is not about being perfect” spoken by the tennis superstar, Venus Williams (@venus Williams)

It is important to recognize that the simple fact of just being active and doing exercise to improve my health is important. I can always challenge myself to do better but I shouldn’t worry about looking perfect or doing every move perfectly. Just do my best!

5) I can definitely maintain my social life with my friends, family and fitness groups without physically being present. Social media has also opened the door to meet so many great medical colleagues and other amazing people around the world during this crisis.

6) I still have more work to do in my lifetime. Sometimes we feel stuck or stagnant. This time has provided me to think about my educational, social, spiritual, and fitness goals at this time in my life. There’s still so much to do! I’m just getting started!