The Upside To The Lockdown

The pandemic has revolutionized and left an indelible mark in the history of mankind. It is going to be spoken of by the current and future generations in awe and amazement. But as a wise man rightly said, the Lock" down" has an "up" side. For me, SD does not only mean Social Distancing but also Self-Discovery. I have discovered facets and strengths of myself and have evolved and grown as a person during the Lockdown.

With 3 helpers at my home before the lockdown, I was leading a luxurious, fast-paced professional life. With the sudden lockdown being declared, I was forced to start cooking for my family of 5. To top it, all the household chores of our home also had to be completed! It was overwhelming. The first few days were extremely challenging, tiring, and exhausting. Then, I decided to rethink and introspect about what could be done to make me stop feeling like an overworked zombie. I realized that I had to approach the situation in a different manner and think in a different way if I wanted a different and happier outcome to my new, Lock-downed life.

Here are some of the valuable lessons that I learned during the Lockdown:

1) It has made me realize that it is important to Ask for help and delegate responsibility. It has taught me not to try to be a Superwoman, Supermom, and Superwife. This made things easier as I did not have to live up to the expectations created by my earlier beliefs. It also inculcated the sense of responsibility in each member of the family. I became more peaceful and tranquil rather than edgy and overwhelmed.

2.) It has taught me to believe in the Power of Meditation to calm and control the mind. I had read about the benefits of meditation but had never practiced it until days into the lockdown. It was not difficult to squeeze in 15 minutes a day for this powerful activity. This helped me immensely to become more relaxed and taught me to respond rather than react to volatile situations.

3) It has taught me to continue to focus on being physically fit and be innovative about it - I have always believed that is is important to be physically fit and exercise at least 4 times a week to maintain good health. In order to make the optimum use of the available resources, I started spot jogging, squats, planks, and other free hand exercises in the living room of our home. This helped me immensely in keeping fit.

4) It has taught me to be positive, accept the situation and be open to learning - As a French professor, I had to make resources and get used to teaching my school students, manage the class and also assess their performance, while being watched for the first time by the parents of my students in every class. I decided to look at it as an opportunity to improvise upon my teaching skills. Now, I enjoy the activity and count the blessings of being able to teach the students without having to physically travel and thereby save time too.

5.) It has taught me to let go of things that I cannot control and be more accepting and adaptable. This characteristic is something that I honed during the lockdown and I must say that it helped me attain a happier state of mind.

As it is said, you will never change your life until you change something that you do daily. The Lockdown has helped in understanding the above line in its true essence.

Thank you for reading.