Before the pandemic hit us, life was on a fixed scheduled and office life was all brick-and-mortar. Then the most arduous situation of the Covid 19 pandemic hit us and with that, life as we knew almost came to a halt. First came the lockdown, an essential step in the prevention of the disease, but it also meant to be confined within the walls of our own safe sanctuaries, our homes. It meant no more of visiting friends and families in person, no vacations, no travel plans, no more visiting the church on Sunday’s, no visits to the gym, no more sipping coffee at our favourite coffee shop, or going to the movies, dine outs, no shopping and the list goes on. However the biggest disruption in the daily routine was a shift of working landscape from office to home.
With Technology revolutionising our ways of work, from boardrooms to video conferencing effectively moved the landscape of work in the confines of our homes. The work deliverables, household chores colliding in one space, when one couldn’t differentiate a weekday from a weekend it all seemed the same. There is definitely no doubt that the work life balance shifted gears as well. This can be overwhelming and stressful. It definitely was for me in the beginning. I was desperately hoping for this phase to get over as soon as possible and return to the “normal”. However with time it only became evident that the normal what we perceived was long gone & we were faced with the hard truth of change and redefine what we meant by normal. This was the new normal and there was no turning back.
The first step was acceptance of the situation, once this was accomplished i realised that i was looking outwards for answers, solutions for managing- life in the new normal, finding peace in the chaotic situation – outside when it dawned on me to look inwards instead. I started with meditation, this small microscopic step done at the beginning of the day gave me boost to initiate other small microscopic steps. From daily morning 5 min meditation which gradually moved to 10 mins the wonders of this simple but highly effective habit already started working wonders. Meditation gave me the edge to set the tone for the day and take charge of the day. I mindfully started scheduling the whole of my day dividing work activities and allowing time for other activities which included my overall well being of mindfulness, listening to affirmations, some great podcasts, eating healthy, moving from time to time, simple exercises etc. With the time that i saved on travelling to and from work in the Mumbai Traffic, i started to allot this time in reading, a few pages daily and i have already read 6 books. The adaptability to this new change and shift in focus was of course not overnight and took place gradually, what seemed uncomfortable at the beginning now seems like a gateway to more ways of seeking and creating new realities.
If there is one take away from these challenging times it would be this, Difficult situations and challenges at the time, may seem like an overbearing cloud of doubt and anxiety and its okay to worry on how things will turn up, but if we change our outlook from outwards to inwards and start seeing the obstacles in our paths, as opportunities in disguise for better and bigger things, we will not only embrace and adapt to the change but also grow as a person.
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