There are a million ways to begin this article; I can go all philosophical by encouraging you to dig deeper and search the meaning of your life, I can head the practical (read- depressing) way by starting with the global figures. No matter what we tell you, you probably know it all. The world has come to a standstill. Yes, we the millennial are figuratively configured into the following zones
- The Quarantine and chill ones
- The work from home ones
And as we proudly progress towards Stage three, the third zone is ones with The existential crisis. Sounds familiar? Pretty sure it is happening to most of us. Whether you are missing your college friends, office atmosphere, clubbing, evening strolls or morning jogs, no matter how positive you have been trying to stay, such things would eat you up.
You might address it as FOMO (fear of missing out), depression, anxiety, PMS, stress etc. It must be exhausting to let your mind control you for such a long time, and kudos to you if you come victorious every time you have had a meltdown because the crisis is much deeper than just COVID-19. It goes much beyond that.
So let’s debunk the most common feelings that you are getting or might get during the lockdown by giving some fruitful solutions.
THE FREQUENT MELTDOWNS
I am sure most of you must be getting paranoid and eventually getting teary about a lot of things, you might be getting sentimental about small things in life. You don’t know how to stop yourself from crying to a level that nobody can understand.
The solution- Don’t stop the tears. You must let out your emotions whichever way you can. This is one of the ways our bodies let the toxins out. As sadistic as it sounds, You will feel a lot lighter and calmer after crying. Maybe an hour later, or the next day you might even laugh and ask yourself why it even happened. Three things you must keep in mind while you are going through this are-
- Try not to spread this pseudo-negativity. Take a day (and lots of deep breaths) and spend time with yourself. This situation does not necessarily have a reason, and therefore nobody will be able to help you.
- Do not make important decisions during this time. It is a complicated time, and you do not want to reflect that upon your choices and decisions.
- Get some sleep. Get ample rest before you come to a not-so-positive conclusion.
The Over-thinking facade
This should not come as a surprise as most of us must be dealing with it every now and then. “Why would she say that?” “What did he mean by that plain thumbs up emoji?”, “Should I have said that back in 2012?” “My boss didn’t reply to my text in five minutes! Am I going to get fired?”. As funny as these expressions sound, the feeling behind them is not.
The solution- You must understand that you are not able to meet your friends, peers, and seniors. The people with whom you used to spend hours with, you are not seeing them personally anymore. Therefore, whatever you are thinking is your overactive imagination. It does not exist in reality. Instead, that is your mind playing tricks on you as you are not able to control it. When in doubt, follow these steps-
- Take a breather and try grounding. The only part of your body that is still relatively more active right now is your mind. It will do all sorts of things all day which might sometimes help you or in this case, trouble you. You must live in the present and try to keep your mind relaxed and composed.
- Make calls to your friends and peers. Go for group video calls, talk about funny incidents back in office or college memories. This would make you realize that everything is the same, and everyone is going through the same issue day in and out.
- Stay hydrated. Keep your mind fresh and your thoughts clean.
THE DREADED FEAR OF UNCERTAINTY
The economy is crashing down, and people are losing jobs and fearing for their lives and future. There is the stress of you being jobless right now, and even if you have a job (count your blessings!), you are worried about the clock-ticking and your time nearing that you might get fired next. You might be feeling unworthy and fearing about your future. Every other day you might be getting to know about your company laying off employees, and it only adds to the pressure and stress. The bills, the loans, the everyday payments, it all comes down as a nightmare turned into reality.
The solution- It is absolutely okay to feel that. You are in your prime and not having a job must be killing you. However, this might seem like economy collapse but not the end of the world. You must realize that it is the 21st century, and sooner or later, we will overcome this crisis. You must be prepared for the post-pandemic phase as well. A lockdown is only making sure that people, the economy, and the entire workforce would bounce back stronger than before. It is time to be physically safe and mentally stable. Keep in mind the following things-
- You must not doubt your skills and talents during this time. In fact, utilize this time to get better at what you do.
- Do not hold grudges for your seniors. They too are doing the best they can to make sure things resume in a much more productive manner. They are taking charge of the betterment of their family at home and their corporate family. Be supportive of their decisions.
- Meditate more. Such times demand a relaxed mind. Get rid of all kinds of fears and insecurities through meditation and exercise.
- Spend quality time with your family. Watch movies, cook food together, or play indoor games to release the stress and value the most essential thing in life- happiness.
FEELING UNPRODUCTIVE
The only possible way we all are connected is through the world wide web. Maybe you are at a stage of your life when you are trying to discover yourself and your aim in life. At this point, seeing others enjoying being productive and constructive might get you all worked up. Some are cooking amazing dishes, some are reading books and getting all the worldly knowledge and wisdom, some are working from home and getting paid. This might be making you feel worthless, and that your life has no meaning at all.
The solution- What makes you think that this feeling is going to remain constant? Although this phase is a part of life, it is definitely not the end game. This phase is to make sure that you are healthy and fit for the life post this lockdown. You do not have to make this time seem like a talent show or a race. It does not matter how many pages you have read or written, as long as things don’t disrupt your mental or your physical health. Remember the following tips-
- You should continue your life, the way you used to lead it in 2019 B.C. (Before Covid-19). You are going to see people do things and then show it to the world because they have no one else to show it to. It is all that they are doing in the day.
- Take ideas. Instead of getting disturbed, archive those posts and try to do the same or learn something new. If you do not feel like doing that, just appreciate and carry on with your regime.
- Remember, nothing is more important than your own well-being. And contentment in life is much more valuable.
Now that you have the solutions to your problems, you must not forget that all these feelings, fears, and insecurities that you are getting about your future, the society, health, grocery or medical needs these days, are only confined to this lockdown phase, which is getting resolved with each day passing. When things will get better, and you will have your sigh of relief, there still will millions of people who will continue living their lives this way because that’s how it has always been for them. Worried about their lives and future every day. Be grateful for the food on the table, the clothes that you wear, and a house with you and your healthy family.
The silver lining during this phase is the much-improved condition of our environment. This makes us all feel that the world needed this pregnant pause. No matter how much we accuse one nation that led to this destruction, and the chaos; deep down we know just how badly we had messed with our mother nature, so much that she took the matter in her own hands and chose the NOT most brutal way to heal herself. It could have gone much worse than this.
So while you are engrossed binge-eating, video-conferencing, thinking and whining about your TGIF nights, travel expeditions, Sunday brunches, and counting down the days for the lockdown to get over, remember to appreciate the good things in life, stay humble and patient. It didn’t have to take pandemic for us to realize how simple things are how these simple things in life are the most precious.