During the third or fourth week of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, I’ve decided to read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (I bought it very affordable from Amazon at $0.99 a Kindle copy for my own Kindle device).
My teenage self can relate and comprehend with Anne’s situation – getting misunderstood as a fourteen-year-old, having crushes, discovering sexuality, and hating her parents (haha!)
More than her predicaments and thoughts, we may somehow relate with her during these trying times. Anne Frank and her family, alongside the Van Daan’s (Van Pels), and a Jewish dentist went into hiding in the ‘Secret Annex’ in 1942. They were discovered in 1945 and did not survive. Her dad, Otto Frank, was the only survivor from eight people that hid in that secret place.
Anne’s diary was a breather and an eye-opener. Indeed, we have a lot of things we need to get out in the open. As a teenager, I compelled her conviction in knowing herself and establishing things that are non-negotiable for her.
Here are some takeaways and quotes written in her diary that I admired her for:
Paper is more patient than man.
When I was in grade school to high school, I also kept a diary with a lock! It is because I like to see my thoughts written down and go back to it if and when my view has changed; or more often than not, I just like ‘something’ to talk to.
Love finds a way
Don’t be too unassuming, it doesn’t get you anyhere.
Mrs. Edith Frank (Anne Frank’s mother) on Mrs. Van Daan:
“I find, too, Mrs. Van Daan, that one gets on better in life if one is not overmodest. My husband, now, and Margot, and Peter are exceptionally modest, whereas your husband, Anne, you, and I, though not exactly the opposite, don’t allow ourselves to be completely pushed to one side.”
Anyhow, I’ve learned one thing now. You only really get to know people when you’ve had a jolly good row with them. Then and then only can you judge their true characters!
I don’t want to be cross, love cannot be forced.
A person of fifty-four who is still so pedantic and small-minded must be so by nature, and will never improve.
This statement still rings true today. I know, I experienced it.
The only way to take one’s mind off it all is to study, and I do a lot of that.
Pro-tip: If you are thoroughly thinking something and you seem to cannot get your mind out of it, you study. Read something you think can help you at work, at school, or your daily living. Learn new sets of skills. Get busy and be productive.
I soothe my conscience now with the thought that it is better for hard words to be on paper than that Mummy should carry them in her heart.
Why do we trust one another so little? I know there must be a reason, but still I sometimes think it’s horrible that you find you can never really confide in people, even in those who are nearest to you.
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy, is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, Nature, and God.
Richest can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it will still bring you happiness again, as long as you live. As long as you can look fearlessly up into the heaves, as long as you know that you are pure within, and that you will still find happiness.
People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but it doesn’t stop you having your own opinion. Even if people are still very young, they shouldn’t be prevented from saying what they think.
And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery.
Isn’t there an old saying that love often springs from pity, or that the two go hand in hand? Is that the case with me too? Because I’m often just as sorry for him as I am for myself.
In case you cannot understand teenagers:
When you are old as we are, you do want to decide just a few things for yourself, you want to be independent sometimes.
For those who are losing courage and will to go on:
Although it’s not always easy, your time may come sooner than you think.
Anyone who doesn’t write doesn’t know how wonderful it is;
I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.
In this unprecedented time:
Be brave! Let us remain aware of our task and not grubmle, a solution will come, God has never deserted our people.
It is God that has made us as we are, but it will be God, too, who will raise us up again.
Be strong because
The weak fall, but the strong will remain and never go under!
Like Anne Frank, this is how I also feel about this pandemic and the mass-testing or lack thereof,
Nothing can crush us more than this restlessness.
And to those people or colleagues that we have that cannot relate or nonchalant with our success,
Stupid people usually can’t take it if others do better than they do.
We all live, but we don’t know the why or the wherefore. We all live with the object of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
Our life in quarantine,
Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
For those who are thinking of doing evil stuff,
A quiet conscience makes one strong!
And children…
“All children must look after their own upbringing.” Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.
And in case I’m not making patol, I stan Anne Frank saying,
I have acted entirely according to my feelings, but I have acted in the way that was best for my peace of mind.
For in its innermost depths youth is lonelier than old age.
Shainne Hostalero 