Inderjeet Sambyal
I wish I had some peaceful moments to reminisce my life, create few arbitrary goals and access my innermost deepest desires. ‘Only if there was enough time in hand’, I would often think.
But before I could settle in, on my ambitious terms and lenient timelines with life, there was Covid-19. Unexplored and unannounced, screeching it’s way through. Suddenly, I found myself in recluse for no reason other than fear, that too, of unknown.
This was not the best self-improvement plan I had been nurturing on for years, I thought to myself. So hadn’t a lot of us, I believe.
But now, in the midst of it, if I get into analysing the Covid phenomenon as a community, I understand that we could not actually deep dive into the ‘what’s in it for us’ and rather got distracted towards ‘when will this go’ syndrome. A few of us still did, I’d say, but there are a lot of them who have not analysed the significance of having heaps of time at their disposal, maybe because it landed on their laps, unrequested.
We often don’t value charity.
If we go in the chronological order of the Covid era, we’d notice that initially our fertile minds were carried away, overwhelmed with idiosyncrasies of the threatening hour, then we got swayed with the haste and possession of mandatory medical ammunition, instilling fear of survival in us and further on, we were torn in between supporting our own support system and also simultaneously managing our declining survival graphs.
We have surely been busy, in a threatening sort of away.
In the hope that we would realise this ahead in time, I’d like to emphasise the fact, that now is that ‘cult era’ we’ve been dreaming about. It’s a pit stop to overhaul and reboot. Now is the dynamic curve that could straighten the toughest challenge we have been facing, now is the time to acquire, achieve and process. Both internally and externally. If we look around, it’s actually the lack of this understanding that has been causing instability, anxiety, mental health issues around the globe.
Let’s take a brief pause to understand these life-supporting facts a)when one approaches an issue with a focused plan, it can cure instability, b) understanding the issues cohesively can lead to calming one’s anxiety and c) support from the family and enhanced communication can help relieve the mental health issues.
Just because an unknown fear is attached to us, we are not able to process these established facts correctly. Hence fear becomes the actual deterrent during Covid and not the given time in hand.
But to process this information effectively, one needs to apply brakes to our incessantly speeding lives or maybe the lack of it. Shun the fear completely, expand one’s individual bandwidth, elaborate the communication both internally and externally and finally groom the emotional quotient.
All of this might sound seemingly new and undoable, but there is a method involved here to ease up the process. All of which starts with developing a sincerely crafted daily routine.
Early hours – Get up in the early, still unfamiliar hours of the morning, give yourself pat on the back for doing so. This sets a tone to handling the day better, even if you’re working from home.
Pen those thoughts-Journal your top of mind thoughts and then segment your day, priority wise, mentally accepting that you’ll be at home for some time. In a week you will like looking at your own reflection with hope and pride. There is nothing more appalling than reflecting peace from within.
Routine is the key -The satisfaction that comes from staying in a docile and seemingly primitive routine is unmatched. It solves a lot of your issues. It is basic and mostly a given. But only due to our other overriding fears, this is the first thing we take for granted and tend to ignore.
Polish that talent – Another spectacular remedy is getting back to your old passion, hobby or past favourite, something that you knocked off, post your childhood, due to the lack of time. The Covid period has proven therapeutic to those who have accessed their dormant inner talents. Irrespective of the digital echo of other raw talents in your environment, you can really dig deeper into your own.
Heal yourself from within- Before you go off to bed, make sure to calm yourself down and close all the loops of things you did in the day. There should be no place for any kind of mental chaos before you sleep. Relax in your space. The only hurry or excitement for tomorrow should be to follow your routine.
Explore your interests: Pace up with the changing times and update yourself with the necessary ammunition to survive in the new age. Experiment with your capabilities and interests. Message less and talk more. The idea should be to leverage the time constructively while keeping yourself mentally sane.
We actually are not sure, that we would willingly want such time back or no, but I do feel this camouflaged time did come with a silver lining. One’s true personality, strength and it’s weakness have all managed to surface in one go. All the ambitions have been parked on the side and it’s the most avoided monotony, that’s on a roll.
The stark attribute that has emerged now, is either one’s inner strength or the lack of identifying one. Whatever the case, we acknowledge that we’re finally not in any race now and there seems to be no hurry. So we have a chance to stabilise, synchronise and stay calm to finally embrace the new normal.
We are finally becoming a community that has braved a 21st-century pandemic, packaged with uncertainties that we have managed to successfully turn into an inner engineering opportunity.
(The author is Statespokesperson BJP JKUT)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Follow our WhatsApp channel
