Not all is negative about living through Covid19 Pandemic Lockdown

We are into the 5th day of the nationwide lockdown due to Covid19 Pandemic and I am already feeling withdrawal symptoms of not being in office. These are not times we had ever imagined we will have to live through. We have read about such apocalyptic periods in books or seen them in umpteen Hollywood movies, but living through them for real is downright scary. With the spread of virus increasing at break neck speed across the globe and with it the number of deaths to account for, makes for a very solemn time for all of us.

However, amidst all the present doom and gloom there are positives to be cherished as we live through these times. For starters

·        Nature has begun to breathe again. When was the last time you stood in the balcony and appreciated the night sky full of Stars? When was the last time you took a deep breath and felt pure air going into your lungs and not the dust and soot that hung in the air around us? When was the last time you could hear the cacophony of birds and not vehicles on the road. I never appreciated my balcony so much before and now standing there in the evening seeing the beautiful pink and orange shades of the setting sun turn to darkness full of stars delights me no end.

·        Personal health and wellbeing has become priority. Social distancing and necessary hygiene precautions are a must to counter the virus threat, but what I am able to appreciate is that you don’t need a gym to exercise and keep yourself fit. Supporting in household chores is providing you with a great way to keep fitness. Squatting and stretching as you engage in various activities to keep your house clean is exercising muscles in your body that you never thought existed. In gyms we pay high money to simulate motions like rowing, climbing, etc, whereas now at home you get real motion exercise through mopping, sweeping, cleaning window panes, etc and to top it all, it is free. So now you have dual benefits, a cleaner house and a fitter you.

·        Appreciating family bonding time. Our work lives have been so busy that barring the customary dinner and once in a while vacations and sit-in together, we have never had the time to do proper family bonding. Now with nowhere else to go and bored of watching TV or scouting the net, you have come to realise that the best time is the time you spend in bonding with family. When was the last time you laughed together, listen to music together, watched movies together (at home), ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together and gossiped together on myriad topics ranging from religion to science to space to movies to politics to any topic on the earth? What matters is being together. While social distancing is with the outside world, this is perhaps the best time for social intimacy with family.

·        Eating Healthy and eating wisely. The lockdown has ensured two key things. One, eating out is not an option. With nothing open, your best bet is to have home cooked food for breakfast, lunch and dinner day after day. Can it be healthier than this? Second of all, since there is a shortage of essentials, you are being careful in limiting what you eat. This is benefiting you from not munching your way to obesity as you sit at home. It is ensuring that you keep yourself healthy and fit.

·        Family games are back in business. When was the last time you played a board game or played cards with family? Perhaps once or twice during your family vacations. Now, you look forward to an evening of games and fun with family. Monopoly, Scrabble, Taboo, Jenga, Pictureka, Pictionary, Uno and many such board games that were lying in some remote storeroom gathering dust are not back in business. All of sudden you are now a child enjoying the competition of these games and for once plotting your strategies on winning the game and not on how to win your next big business deal.  You now appreciate the regale and laughter while playing these games to be more precious than even the biggest business deal you would have won. Winning business deals brings pressure, winning board games with family brings in joy.

·        A creative mind is God’s workshop. Each one of us have had hobbies and interests that excited us. However, before this we either did not have time or sometimes inclination to pursue them. Now as you sit at home and get bored of doing office work and household chores, you also get time to start engaging your mind on doing creative things. You start inventing new indoor games that you can play with family, you start pursing your hobbies be it painting, reading, writing, composing music, singing, gardening, etc to bring joy to yourself and to your family. This creative streak in you is re-invigorating you and making you the person you should be rather than the person you had become.

·        Work from home is not bad after all. While I did mention in the beginning that I am facing office withdrawal symptoms, as days pass by and my routine settles down, I find myself more relaxed and productive at working from home. The key here is to not end up over-working and been able to draw a line on when to work and when to do other things. Downside of working from home can be you getting drawn to check your emails all the time and that can suck you into its vicious world of never ending sends/replies leading to over-stretching your working hours and killing the best part of being at home with family. So a disciplined routine is key to enjoy work from home and also benefit from the gains of being with family and doing other things.

So as you see, whilst living life through these difficult times is going to be tough, there are certainly positives about this life that will make you a better, fitter and perhaps even a happier person at the end of it. So Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and Be Engaged with yourself and your family as we together tide through this crisis.