Days ago, we experienced a power blackout, no thanks to Typhoon Ulysses that battered most parts of Luzon including Metro Manila.
During those days, we did not have electricity and Wi-Fi Internet, which are extremely important nowadays especially for us students learning from home.
Thankfully classes were suspended during that period. But young students like me learned some valuable lessons from this event.
Self-control is possible in situations that call for it.
Since there was no electricity, we were unable to do things we normally do like easily charge our gadgets and browse the Internet.
We had to charge our gadgets during daytime using our car’s battery, which meant we had to use them sparingly. Whenever one of us used them for quite a long period of time, we had to remind each other to stop. Our Wi-Fi was out, so we can’t browse the Internet either.
It was a bit difficult, but we learned that we need to control ourselves when using our gadgets in situations that call for it.
Being happy with our family’s company
Without our gadgets siphoning most of our time, we found ourselves catching more sunshine during the day and interacting with one another much more than usual.
We found ways to entertain ourselves and pass the time sans screen—we read books, told each other scary stories, and discussed topics such as non-existent entities.
Lit by candle at the dinner table, we would role-play as kings and queens. Even if it was humid and uncomfortable at night, we got to enjoy telling silly stories of our experiences before going to bed.
During that time, it felt genuinely nice to just be talking and sharing stories with family members.
Finding joy offline
Those days of blackout made us realize that we don’t need Wi-Fi and electronics, or go out of town to be happy. We can make do with what we have.
We even had the chance to find strategic areas in the house to set up our flashlights. We also had an alternative dinner schedule, which was set at an earlier time in the evening so that it would not be too dark to eat. All these were not difficult to adjust to; they were even moments we enjoyed, since they felt like an adventure rather than a misfortune.
We chose not to mope over the situation and focus instead on the positive. Some of us even brought up the topic that in a spiritual sense, God must be teaching us a valuable lesson.
Indeed, that power blackout gave us a valuable lesson in finding joy even in the toughest of times.
