MINDFULNESS AND FREELANCING

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The pandemic that is the covid 19 has indeed created and added to a lot of uncertainties in life, leading to mental stress. It made a lot of people rethink their priorities, their lifestyles and even their careers. In my case, it made me ponder on what actions to take in order for me to continue to thrive inspite of the limitations caused by the pandemic. As a 47 year old single woman who has been working in a regular office with offline setting, it indeed stressed me out to be without my income for 2 months due to the lockdown caused by the pandemic. During those stressful times, negative thoughts filled my mind and that of course gave me the panic. But not all is negative because it was also during those times that I learned about the practice of mindfulness and the freelancing courses offered by the Filipino Virtual Assistant Academy.

Mindfulness is described as the practice of paying attention in the present moment, and doing it intentionally and with non-judgment. It also refers to the deliberate acts of regulating attention through the observation of thoughts, emotions and body states.

During the first two weeks of the lockdown, I was not at all worried because I thought to myself that this is just like a " staycation" that I am very much accustomed to. But when the lockdown stretched for another 2 weeks, that was when the negative thoughts and the panic broke in. I couldn't sleep and eat well and i found myself crying in the shower. It was only after I chanced upon a facebook group about meditation or mindfulness for beginners when thoughts turned positive again in my mind. I learned to slow down and to really live in the present moment. I learned to meditate for at least 10 minutes a day and observe my breathing in and breathing out. Whenever I would feel anxious or a negative memory or thought would enter my mind, I would acknowledge it but I will not attach myself to it. I would try to imagine and remember that my mind is like the clear blue sky and that my thoughts are just like the passing clouds.

The positive outlook that came after learning and practicing mindfulness opened and cleared my mind into acquiring new skills that would eventually help me to thrive in the fast changing world today.

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Freelancing is defined as working for

different companies at different times rather than being permanently employed by one company.

I have no idea what freelancing or virtual assistance was all about and when I found out about it through a facebook friend, I doubted myself if I am qualified to be one. Well, yes, I am a college graduate, I have knowledge on how to use a computer but i felt that my skills are already outdated and I am also insecure about my age, so when I saw the post of Coach Kathy Lim Cabradilla of the Filipino Virtual Assistant Academy about how age and little knowledge in computer skills NOT being factors in freelancing as long as one is willing to learn new skills, I went ahead and enrolled myself in the freelancing courses of the Filipino Virtual Assistant Academy.

Eye opening, fun, challenging and nerve wracking, that is how I would describe my experience as a student in the freelancing course of the Filipino Virtual Assistant Academy. Eye-opening because I have learned and found many tools in the internet to do my assignments. Fun because, wow!, there are so many wonderful designs and images that I can use and even change, I mean, the possibilities are endless! Challenging because I was not really into social medias and other stuff related to it until now, so there was indeed an adjustment to be made, and nerve wracking because I really have no idea on how to accomplish my tasks within the deadline. There was also a point when I just wanted to raise the white flag and give it all up because of the doubts creeping in my mind, but thanks to the practice of mindfulness, I have learned to calm myself down and to take each challenges one day at a time.

And here I am now. I have my own brand, jly, virtual assistant solutions, I have my own website, I have upgraded my skills and learned so many other abilities from simple administrative tasks like data entry to social media management and marketing, website creation, optimization and management.

Yes, there will always be challenges. Life will not always be easy. But if we learn to live in the moment, to slow down and to practice mindfulness, and to pursue our dreams by developing new skills in order to achieve them, then everything is indeed possible!!!