More than a year has passed since WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic. It has upended our lives and careers like never before. We abruptly shifted to working from home and lived through several lockdowns. Face-to-face interactions and social gatherings are a thing of the past now, and staying at home and working from home is the new normal. The ongoing restrictions and devastating socio-economic impacts have left most of us feeling stressed and worried about our future, and I am no exception. With another lockdown on the horizon, I cannot help but think about how I will work, live, and thrive until the surge abates or until vaccines are available equitably around the world.
The pandemic has rocked and halted my regular life like never before. It is still challenging me in unpredictable ways every day. I don't know when my life will get back to the pre-virus normal. Or, will the old normal ever appear again? I don't know.
The pandemic is a severe assault on both my mental health. The feeling of loneliness struck hard every day throughout 2020, especially during festive seasons and on my birthday. I was hoping that 2021 will be a better year. But the second wave of COVID-19 has taken my anxiety and loneliness to the next level. I know that everyone goes through tough times when disconnected. I think it is normal to feel lonely while staying indoors and interacting less with people, but for me, loneliness worsens the underlying anxiety and panic.
I was ashamed and embarrassed to open up and talk about the pernicious side effect of the pandemics until now. I feared that a candid conversation might uncover a vulnerability on my part. However, since my mental health and well-being is as important as my physical health, I have decided to jot down my fears and thoughts here. Once I pour out my fears and worries, I want to embrace and live a healthy lifestyle and stay clear in my head.
On weekdays or weekends, staying up late and waking up late is the new normal in my life since March 2020. My eating habits have gone for a toss, and the prolonged pandemic restrictions and a sedentary lifestyle have made me a couch potato. Adding to the woes is my latest indulgence - munching on unhealthy snacks while at work or whenever I am hungry. And the temptation to stress eat is undoubtedly enormous these days. To get started, I have to painstakingly combat all these bad habits before they wreak havoc on my health, productivity, and immunity.
The good news is that with adequate attention and practice, I can successfully undo any less-than-stellar habits of mine, and I have succeeded more than once in the past. But I haven't been successful yet when it comes to keeping a check on my news consumption.
I love to stay on top of news and trends and enjoy devouring breaking news and updates every other minute. But it's high time to try hard and draw the line while staying informed and alert. With one distressing news report leading to another, I often get lost on the internet for hours together. The information overload gets quite overwhelming on most of the days and often gives fatigue and anxiety. I know that I cannot stay away from news portals and social media for a very long time. It is not a viable solution. I will have to slow down, limit my presence, and take one step at a time.
During the initial lockdown, the prolonged lack of human interactions made me a compulsive social media user for some time until I started witnessing a startling overflow of anxiety-inducing misinformation. Then I decided to take frequent breaks from social media instead of constantly letting myself go down the rabbit hole of social media addiction. I found the much-needed diversion in reading, music, and blog writing. Pandemic or not, I always find solace in good books and blogging. They help reduce negative mental chatter significantly so that I can stay calm, focused, and motivated.
The inundation of the COVID-19 infodemic on social media and chat apps and its negative implications have reinforced the need to have an optimal balance between my digital and non-digital life. Social media can sometimes be a double-edged sword. Forget Facebook and Twitter; the rate at which dubious and false information about the pandemic is spreading on WhatsApp is very alarming. Like the COVID-19 virus, misinformation spreading like wildfire on WhatsApp, and we must stem the tide before it is too late. But trust me, life without WhatsApp is very much possible, way more peaceful, and entirely possible. I live it every single day and love it to the fullest.
To get through the COVID-19 upheaval without any lasting physical, mental, and emotional damage, I want to live healthily and keep my positive attitude, energy, and hope alive. Yes, sometimes it's hard to sail through certain days, but I am trying to take one day at a time and focus on the positives in my life. That's the only way I can march forward with good health, determination, hope.