Life is incredible and very unexpected, isn’t it? For the last three years we have seen and faced a world that we never knew could be in our lifetime. The beginning of the pandemic in a world that is so developed was quite shocking for all of us. We have survived the pandemic of novel coronavirus when we seldom knew anything at all about this coronavirus outbreak, then we shielded ourselves understanding what are the threats by sanitizing and wearing a mask and hoping for invention of a vaccine to keep us safe from Covid infections. Then came a year where we all struggled to get slots in hospitals to obtain the vaccine. And now we see ourselves in a year where we might be facing different waves of the novel coronavirus and mind you each week has been different from the other till date. So what has the pandemic that was caused by coronavirus taught us? It has taught us that life can be undeniably miserable, isolating, and terrifying. Earlier we knew that life as such throws battles at us but somehow we always knew what our long-term goals were and we would always strive and work hard to achieve those long-term goals no matter what. However, the pandemic has taught us to live the moment and create only short-term goals.
While some do like the idea of a short-term goal, for a majority of people in the world living in the moment or living in the short film, we can call it a state of temporariness — it creates discomfort, anxiety and dis-ease. They feel very unsettling as nothing feels permanent for them in their life and things are always moving on a fleeting note.
We learnt to let go — of our Goals and Plans
It was incredible for us to see how politics still made its way and played a vital role in making the pandemic a little more horrifying. Most of the countries did not know what the leaders were doing for them in order to keep them protected from the Covid infections. They wanted us to march towards herd immunity in spite of knowing that people are bound to die even if it was a large number or a small number, it just didn’t bother them enough. If we are the middle-aged people of the world, then we can call ourselves generally healthy and since we are fully vaccinated we are less exposed to having a severe Covid infection and this can surely cause some comfort. However when we think of our older friends and relatives who have comorbidities, even if they are vaccinated they are still exposed to that higher risk of infections.
We all held on to lofty hopes in the beginning stages of the pandemic and now when we look back those hopes are all gone. We are only focusing on short-term health goals such as ensuring that we don’t get sick today, having enough Covid test cases at home and try not to panic a spiral when we know that our government has been overwhelmed with the burden of steering clear of Covid infection and has in fact given up on protecting us.
Learn to find joy in the world of unpredictability
Did you know that short-term goals can always be negative? Some can be considered optimistic very cautiously. But for example, instead of us thinking of meeting a friend or traveling somewhere a few months down the lane, it is safer for us to consider an enjoyable adventure that we could venture out upon in the next couple of days no matter how tiny or small it is.
Made it less in focusing on the present, especially in this world of pandemic. We need not worry about the future obsessively and we should instead just focus on our present and what we could achieve daily or at least in the short term — this will boost positive mental health.
Some ways to cope
If you are someone who is struggling to shift your focus from a long-term goal to a short-term goal, then we have some golden advice for you. Read on.
- Try to focus on what you can control and not what will feel you empowered or make you less anxious.
- Practice mindfulness through exercises such as meditation or breath work. They will help you stay grounded and make you feel centered.
- Lay focus on your present. Whether there is a pandemic or not, you need to understand that the only guarantee that will always be with you as long as you are alive is your own life and the moment to celebrate that fact is now.
- Write down your strengths and assets — this will help in building your self-esteem and also helps you practise self compassion.
- Always remember to practise gratitude. Whenever you find an opportunity, appreciate and feel hopeful.
- Do not forget that pandemic was not the first hardship that you faced in your life, even though we admit it has been the longest one that not just you but the entire world is facing – we still insist that you reflect on your previous challenges and feel proud about it the learnings that you have got from it.
Please remember that you are not alone in this pandemic and although it feels endless and overwhelming, we will learn to live with it and keep ourselves safe from it.
