Coping With The Covid Stress And Beyond

On the 24th of March, 2020 India went into the biggest lockdown the world had ever witnessed. The country came to a standstill. 8 months later, the lockdowns have lifted but life is not the same for many, emotionally. Glimpse takes a peak into some lockdown stories...

I remember my first reaction to the lockdown - borderline panic! Not because Covid was spreading, but because of otherworldly apprehensions - but a general feeling of being caged seemed to envelop me. Stepping out is unsafe - cops are being strict, people are turning unruly grocery stores, what if someone falls ill and needs to go to the hospital? They are so unsafe at the moment! Within 48 hours, daily life seemed different and seemed like it was being governed by someone else. There were no emails in my inbox, I would turn in surprise if my phone would ring once in a day, there were suddenly no deadlines to be met, suddenly there were no 'would be done by EOD' commitments. In short - life suddenly became peaceful - and perhaps for the first time, I was aware of the everyday pressure we had gotten so used to living with. It was like White Noise – you don't realize it until it shuts down! And the feeling was beautiful.

However we human beings have a way of surprising ourselves! We often find ourselves complaining about lack of time for ourselves - and when finally we did have the time - we just did not know what to do with it...leading to yet another saga of how dissatisfied with our lives we are. So what makes us so unhappy? And what can we do about it? I created my own ABC of dealing with the anomalies that came with this pandemic. Here are my two cents of wisdom:

1. Accept: