Life Lessons I am learning during Pandemic
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” — Aristotle
Staying home over the past two months is helping me see life from a different lens and honestly, it feels like a big deal as I never found time to reflect on how my life has changed over the past decade. We are always told to move forward and not focus on our past mistakes and now I wish I had someone tell me that it’s okay to introspect and learn from our mistakes. Self-isolation has given me the opportunity to look back and understand my choices, failures from a non-judgemental tone.
I started looking back over the past three months and realized through this unwanted change that I am constantly learning. Reading and watching videos on self-care; news and tips to stay safe during COVID-19 have left me thinking we can all make an impact one way or the other. It depends on how you say it. I am sharing my perspective and some tips in a positive light and hoping that if it can help even one person, I feel my intention is understood.
Life is Unpredictable
This is a no-brainer as we are experiencing it every day. I am learning that no matter how bad it gets, choosing love and hope over fear and anxiety will create a mindset shift and will help embrace this crisis and will prepare me for tough situations ahead. This takes practice and every day I am saying it out loud standing in front of the mirror and I am getting used to it.
Taking care of Finances
Creating an Emergency Fund for the next six months to a year from now will help subside the fear of uncertainty. I should have started this sooner but it’s never too late. It’s likely that many of us may end up losing our primary source of income so having a backup is always helpful. Working on a side hustle can be a good way to keep ourselves occupied and every penny is worth it.
No one is Invincible
We can all agree that the virus does not differentiate between people (the prime minister of Britan tested positive, some celebrities, and people in power). The guidelines suggested by the CDC and WHO are for a reason and following it without raising questions can save lives. Everyone is facing some inconvenience and it is understandable but, until we can come up with an alternative that works, self-isolation is the only way we can reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
Tune-in and Reflect
Ask yourself how many times are you feeling anxious and lost in a day? Staying positive throughout the day is not easy and it takes effort and I am definitely one of them who needs positive self-talk. We all are human and it is okay. Journaling, talking to my parents, friends are helping me ease the stress.
Structuring the day and Being Realistic
Planning my week or a day ahead is making me more anxious and guilty for not doing all the hundred things I plan to accomplish. Instead, going about the day based on how I feel is helping prioritize and live in the present. I have many self-care ideas but honestly, I cannot do it all in a day so having a structure of how my day might look is helping. Being productive is a good thing but does not measure your self-worth.
Conscious Consumption is Vital
Whether it is news, binge-watching, eating junk food that tricks us into believing that it is keeping us distracted, after a point it turns into overconsumption. I am trying to be mindful of how much time I am spending on each. Watching news is definitely making me anxious so I am spending less than ten minutes a day to keep myself informed. The most challenging thing has been to stop binge-watching Netflix or movies and I need to find ways to find something engaging to stop consuming excess. I usually try a workout or listen to music and sketch, read a book.
Taking care of our health is more important than ever
With gyms, public parks, workout studios closed most of us are struggling to create a workout routine. It is very important to keep ourselves active as our body releases feel-good hormones and we feel less stressed after a good workout. Baking and trying new recipes is a great way to connect with our body-mind-gut but consuming excess can create an unhealthy relationship with food over time. Try eating wholesome meals throughout the week and even though it’s hard to distinguish weekend these days, plan a cheat meal over the weekend. Taking care of our physical health can help save money and this is something that is in our control. whenever I feel like indulging in junk food I try and remember that they are many people who are starving every day, having access to a wholesome meal makes me of the blessed ones.
We are all Connected
“We all are experiencing this together and we will come out of stronger than ever” — I saw this post on social media and it made me realize that we all doing our part in fighting this pandemic together. Some of us are staying home and saving lives, doctors, nurses, health care professionals, people working in grocery stores and all essential personnel are working round the clock. Though everyone is experiencing pain, fear, anxiety in a different way, what keeps us all connected is grieving about the world once we knew and how to embrace this new change and hope for a better future ahead.
Pandemic is teaching us some valuable life lessons and we should open our hearts and mind to it. There will be good and bad days but knowing that things will get better with time will help us stay positive. Life is unpredictable, so living in the present moment is the key but it takes practice. Embracing the inevitable and let go of things that are not in our control is easy to say but give it time. I am learning every day and practicing mindfulness and remembering :
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean. If a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty” — Mahatma Gandhi
