the haze has affected much of our lives lately and is likely to stay on at least for the next couple of months, so said the prime minister.
yes, it is indeed something that should be taken seriously as it will affect one's health and well-being in the long term. and as for me, someone who has an elderly person who has respiratory problems, i should be even more careful. and thus far, as i reflected about the whole haze thing, about my reactions to it vs some of my friend's reaction to it, etc, i came to this conclusion - how one react to a crisis has a direct impact on one's well-being. in short, it is about one's attitude towards an issue.
let me explain.
over the last few days, while i was conscious of the health problems, the burning smell, the stinking feel i get in my eyes etc, i was actually quite happy and excited about it. and rather than complain about it, i actually embraced it and lived with it. happily, for that matter. i read up about it, prepared myself for it, checked the news about it and lived with it. i adopted the attitude that if i can't change it, might as well do the most out of it. and so, rather than see the smog, i told my mind it looked like mist. and with that, my mind relaxed. i imagined i was on holiday. and rather than bitch about it and complain, i joked about it. laughter has a wonderful way of relaxing a person. and when i am relaxed, my mind is clear and i can be proactive about the it. i bought a air purifier when i sensed things turning bad. i changed my daily routines. instead of bringing mum out to hawker centers, i brought her to shopping center food courts, i treated her to korean food, etc. in short, i turned the gloom and doom to something more cheery. and sensing worsening psi, i prepared myself and bought food to cook at home rather than go out, i turned on the air con, etc. and i lived through it rather happily. in fact, i surprised myself... considering i am quite a pessimistic person. and funnily, i actually felt a sense of "lost" when the haze cleared. it is like as though a friend had gone away.
compared to some of my friends, they bitched about it, got worried about it, and instead of reading up about the situation and preparing themselves for it, they chose to listen to rumours, or worst still, spread misinformation. the thing about misinformation is that it add on to their unfounded fears founded on their ignorance. imagined this - i got this news from a well-intentioned friend (who is really very nice in real life, but a bit of a drama mama queen in normal days and who as the habits of dramatizing things) who, rather than reading up, chose to forward the misinformation to me. the news he forwarded had been forwarded from someone who has a relative's relative's relative la la la's cousin's boyfriend who is a phd student in nus and said that the haze (esp the 2.5 microns particles) will cause cancer to everyone. and that everyone must carry an umbrella when they go out (on the day it hit 401) cos the our government has decided to seed the clouds as a last resort and that if people don't carry umbrella, they risk getting burned by acid rain. ya, when i read that i was like - wtf! yeah, wtf right? hmmm... but yeah, i do appreciate the concern and the efforts to forward the sms to me. thank you my friend. anyway, quite a few too, i noticed, got sick not fully becos of the haze, but becos of their fears. it was quite scary. in fact, they reached a point where they were so frightened they closed themselves to facts, and worst still, turned cynical about news...
and as always, there are lessons learned.
and in this case, it's about one's attitude.
and yes, i do miss hazie a little...
lol!
ps: this is my 3000th post!
