THE OSCILLATING SEESAW

Thousands of individuals feel rattled when they read about students feeling lost and uncertain about their future. Employees are being laid off or working on half their salaries. Business owners incurring expenses that are pinching their capital. Start-ups running out of funds. People suffering or much worse!

Or we feel overwhelmed when we come across success stories of people who achieve so much out of nothing. A business gained massive amounts of turnover without having the story of their losses, failure to launch projects or trials ever seeing the light. A guy who comes with 10 Rs in his wallet has amassed huge amounts of wealth and success!

During the lockdown, when our routines are disturbed and now that we find ourselves having a lot of unregulated time at our hands. We find ourselves either surrounded by misery or with exaggerated and larger than life success stories. It feels like an oscillating seesaw.

Being hyper connected with friends and the world can be unnerving and a boon at the same time. We look at all that glitters and then look within and feel like we are not enough, not doing enough.

There is never a one advice fits all. But there are ‘triggers’. Each one of us have people, situations, things that trigger a negative state of being in us. When I was in college I was a very studious kid! If I found that a friend has studied more chapters than I have I’d go crazy worrying that I am going too slow in my exam preparation. No matter how sure I was in my exam prep, if I’d see other students struggling with doubts. I’d doubt myself to have those doubts too!

At one point of time I realised that I was going crazy doubting myself! I decided to work on my triggers. I absolutely stopped asking friends how much they had studied! And I began to enter the exam hall when the invigilator had ordered everyone to leave their books and bags outside. Exactly when everyone would be deathly quiet either looking at the ceiling or the floor awaiting their fate

I’d highly recommend that you too Identify your triggers and the sources of those triggers.

-         If reading about Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise is making you feel upset, limit those news posts on him.

-         If you find a friend constantly spamming your social media with posts that leave you feeling inadequate, I’d recommend you send them a prayer of positivity, but unfollow their content.

-         If talking to friends endlessly about the final exams’ triggers anguish in you, consciously stay away from those discussions and even those friends if you have to.

-         If you have to live under a rock, disappear for a while or create a bubble around you that protects your energy and spirits. I recommend you do all that it takes, to get it done.