At the beginning of the week, Liga MX was one of the few leagues around the world that were still going on despite the growing restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Clásico Joven finished the week in front of an empty Estadio Azteca, a somber realization hit me.
It’s all over.
Liga MX and Liga MX Femenil are shut down for the foreseeable future. It’s as if the sun or the moon just disappeared one day and no one knows when they’ll return – or what they’ll look like when they do come back. No one knows what things will look like when play resumes. Will the leagues pick up exactly where they left off? Will the rest of the season be cancelled? The uncertainty around everything is another unsettling event in a chain of unsettling events.
I’m not going to go on about the goings-on of the last week. The games seem pretty inconsequential in light of what’s going on. How things were handled by the FMF and CONADE (Comisión Nacional de Cultura Fisicál y Deporte) can and should be debated and discussed, but right now I’ll give you the three things I’m focusing on instead.
1.) Keeping myself healthy – I’m trying to look after my health, both mentally and physically right now. It’s not easy. I’m fairly healthy physically, but have always struggled with depression. Being locked in a house for the majority of the day with my wife and our toddler isn’t easy. Balancing spatial needs with the need to entertain a rambunctious child while doing my day job will take time to figure out, and it’s not going to be easy. I just keep telling myself that we’ll figure it out and I try and ensure I get some physical exercise in. We all go out to walk the dog, and it’s pretty therapeutic.
Make sure you’re doing these things for yourself. Check on yourself mentally. Are you struggling? Is it something a simple walk might help with, or can you text a friend to talk through what’s going on? Try and do some sort of physical activity no matter how small. Of course, keep in mind social distancing parameters (stay at least six feet away from other people), but go for a walk if you can.
2.) Checking in with neighbors and friends – I’ve checked in with my next door neighbors to let them know to call my wife or I to let us know if they need anything. They’re all elderly, and two of them have some serious health issues that means they shouldn’t be going out really for any reason. Of course I’m making sure to keep physical distance between us, but hopefully they know we’re here for them. I’m also checking in with friends and family via text and WhatsApp messages. I’m pretty introverted, so often I’m not as good at this as I should be so I keep telling myself “If I’d be happy to get a text from this person, they’d probably be happy to get one from me.” Hopefully my friends and family aren’t bummed out when I message them. If they are, they’ve been pretty good at hiding it so far.
I’d urge you to do this too. Just say hi and check in on people you care about. We’re all going to need to rely on each other to get through this.
3.) Know this is impermanent – We will get through this. While nothing will be the same going forward, you will eventually look back on these times. Help who you can and where you can. Wash your hands. Avoid crowds. Look out for each other. Like Yung Bleu said, “we all we got.”
👋😞 Nos vemos pronto. pic.twitter.com/q6H2rmQgSj
— Club Santos (@ClubSantos) March 16, 2020
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