How to Stay Happy in the (extended) Lockdown?

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Not weaker, not even as is. Stronger! That’s how it is meant to be. And now is the time for us to be stronger.

It's been almost a month of us staying at home officially. And with the lockdown being extended, it's going to be 14 more days at least. And maybe more. I hope all of you have accepted the new normal and the possibility that it could go on for a few months now. So it's important to consciously do things to stay happy.

I'm staying away from family and friends so it was really difficult for me to cope in the first few weeks. Then I started focusing on keeping my mind and body productively involved and now I'm really enjoying the lockdown time. And it was not as difficult as I thought it would be; to keep myself positive and happy.

I'm sure I'm going to come out of this as a better version of myself. As I've become Antifragile.

Antifragile? Have you heard of this word before?

I hadn't. Until a few days back.

So you know when a thing or a person gets weakened when exposed to volatility, stress or uncertainty, we call them Fragile! When they are able to withstand harm without weakening, we call them Resilient. But what about things and people that get stronger in such situations? Do we have a term for that?

Yes, we do! That's Antifragile. The opposite of fragile.

Antifragile is beyond resilient. The resilient resists shocks, antifragile gets better.

And this time right now is the time for us to become antifragile.

I've seen a lot of posts across all social media platforms saying that it's okay to not be super productive; it's more important to focus on your mental health rather than chasing what others are doing; it's not 'Quarantine Got Talent' and so on. While I agree that it's okay, I also believe that we've gotten enough time to adjust to the situation and now we should really start using this time productively. You can't just sit and let it pass by thinking that it's okay. Because not only will you improve productivity, you will also feel super happy and confident about yourself.

But how? Here are a few things I'm doing-

1. Invest your time in learning a new skill or restart a hobby - Well, you don't have to. But isn't time what you always wanted to pick up that guitar or to complete that painting or to drown into books? Involve yourself in something new. You might be so good at it and enjoy it so much that you end up pursuing it as a second career. You never know!
2. Make yourself stronger physically and mentally - You can easily follow a routine in this time to exercise and meditate every day. Spend time with your body and mind. Those are the two most valuable assets you have in life.
3. Cultivate stronger relationships - With family, with friends, with your partner, with strangers. Share your thoughts and feelings instead of keeping them to yourself. Reach out to people whose work you admire. Make connections. Build strong foundations. When things go wrong romantically, personally or professionally, they can be your support system. Nurture relationships.
4. Leave the things that make you fragile - Eat healthily, improve your routine, don't spend hours on social media unnecessarily, don't binge-watch shows and movies all night, stop reading negative news all day, don't think about things going bad instead try to think of ways you could turn them around. Just stop doing anything that makes you feel low or bad right then or even in hindsight.
5. Be soft with yourself - While you shouldn't let the time pass by, do not be very strict or harsh on yourself. You can't be productive all the time. Sometimes it's important to take things lightly and let yourself loose. But not all the time, please!

It might seem like a waste of time to add variation to your lives but understand the importance of making yourself antifragile when you have the time.

If you go through the stories of people who faced such distressful situations in the past, you'll see that they came out happy and successful from the situation because they put the effort in becoming better rather than just hoping for the time to pass.

I'm doing these things from the last 2 weeks now and I already feel so much better. So much that I know the next 2 weeks are not going to bog me down. While we cannot control the external situation, we can and should focus on our internal situation. Trust me, it's not as tough as it seems in our heads.

Come out of this uncertain and stressful time stronger rather than weaker or even resilient. Because unexpected always happens, sooner or later!

Let me know in the comments what else you're doing to keep yourself happy.

Stay Safe!