Weekend Musings: It’s Okay to Not be Okay

It’s been over a month since the lockdown and I am sure we’ve found our own ways of staying productive during this testing period. I have found my own rhythm and follow a specific routine while trying several new things outside of regular work. Have gone back to reading more, doing regular workouts and spending quality time with my family.

 It’s now been over a year since I’ve been sharing my thoughts and experiences through my ‘Weekend Musings’. I’m grateful to have received admiration, positivity and critique, which I always welcome since it allows me to expand my perspective while trying to understand people’s opinions. Therefore, I try my best to engage with the comments on my blogs. Recently, while scrolling I found a comment that triggered the weekend musing for this week. It was around dealing with restlessness during the pandemic.

My instincts kicked in and as I have been reasonably ok, I instantly typed out a ‘no’ and started explaining how I was coping but, through the process, I started to really question myself if that, in fact, is a reality for everyone. I deleted what I was typing and gave myself a few moments to introspect and ask, “is the lockdown making us restless?” The answer is yes, however, the frequency and intensity of it varies from person to person.

We’ve all come a long way in the last month and have pulled through this period together well, but at the same time, we’ve also come a long way from our normal lives. One is bound to feel vulnerable from time to time given the situation and that’s perfectly okay.

Considering we’re going to be riddled with our vulnerabilities, the most critical part of this is how you cope with it. None of us are superheroes who can weather this storm easily, we’re all humans who have our coping mechanisms that help regenerate positive energy. Personally, my go-to remedies have been taking a day at a time, working out, reading and spending little pondering when all this is going to end. I believe in ‘this too shall pass’ and that difficult situations are not permanent. Minus a few obvious things, I’ve stuck to the same routine I practised before the lockdown. Over the weeks I have found a specific rhythm with the environment and a routine which resonates with pre lockdown days of work and life. Doing so has helped me maintain and sustain the same hours of focus as before. And I am grateful for all the positive comments from you on my blogs from quoting Omar Khayyam to displaying a positive attitude about the new normal.

While it is okay and important to deal with your vulnerabilities, it is also very important to remember that a brighter future awaits us and this time is going to make us stronger. It is important to make sure that we’re prepared for it with the right mind-set. We cannot allow these things to withhold us from our true potential, which has an opportunity to unleash itself sooner than you think. And this is where our ‘Resilience’ plays an important part.