4 Key Lessons from the Pandemic

When you think about ways that could cause loss of life and property across the globe, you think of geopolitical unrest, natural disasters, or maybe a disease but a virus that almost becomes like a war with an invisible enemy lasting for over 2 years is not something any of us could have imagined.

More than 2 years later, the virus is not just a disease, but it has impacted our lifestyle, economies, and personalities and defined a new normal. The pandemic has been tough, life and livelihoods lost, people suffered from loneliness, and depression and everyone got confined to the 4 walls of the house.

While it was a tough time there were so many things to learn and personally rethink where we were headed in our lives and what we gave priority to.

Personally, my biggest lessons in these uncertain times have been the following:

1. Slow down, take a break

Working in a 9–5 (9–9) corporate job, life was a constant rat race. You wake up, follow some fancy morning rituals all influencers are doing, pretend to meditate while you struggle to make it in time to work, try and increase productivity in the office all day, or rant and gossip depending on your mood, come back and consume some brainless content and repeat the hustle again the next day.

During the pandemic the world slowed down, no getting ready and travelling in traffic to work, no social commitments, giving you so much time for yourself. People found solace in cooking, became fitter with no more apps delivering midnight munchies and a lot of people started studying online or an online business that they were waiting to start but never found the time.

Personally, with all the extra time, I started to build a daily routine that suited me, instead of reading mindlessly I started focussing on reading and implementing the things I learned. I did do my responsibilities of work and office, but I wasn’t too harsh with myself and took out time for myself, even if was for an afternoon nap, which I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed before the pandemic.

This was the time I started to understand and focus on my mental health and physical fitness, grew spiritually and in fact, started journaling which I did previously as well but very inconsistently and did not enjoy it.

Again, another habit I thought was glorified by social media but came in handy when times were lonely.

2. The importance of a Side hustle

For most economies, the pandemic has been a really dark phase with businesses going bankrupt and even huge MNCs cutting down on budgets, people with lesser disposable income, people losing jobs, and the amount spent on healthcare by people and countries, all pushing the economy into depression.

Although I did not lose my job, I did realize the importance of different sources of income, or side hustles that you can rely on when times get tough.

If there is one lesson you should learn from the pandemic is the uncertainty in the economy and how it is very important to have a backup plan, a second source of income, which with the internet has become very easy.

Find what you’re interested in and start working on it. If you like painting, start selling your designs, you can also sell your art on merchandise through sites like Redbubble. If you like writing, start a blog, and if you feel you have no such interest, just take what you do in your job and make a course about it for people with similar roles.

Start with something and try and grow a passive income source. I started my first side hustle with a not-so-successful course, but my biggest opportunity was to run my farmhouse as a homestay which has not only been running successfully but also has the potential to become my main income source.

More on side hustles and my homestay in future posts, meanwhile you can check out my course (https://skl.sh/37JRDVY) if you want some art therapy

3. The importance of family

Having studied and worked in different cities for the past 7 years I have been living away from family for quite some time. During the pandemic with offices following a work-from-home model and nowhere to go, families have been a huge support. With the constant news about the pandemic getting worse, people dying, shortage of medicine in the new, from relatives and neighbours, everybody was bound to suffer from anxiety and paranoia but being with family, you knew you were not alone and survive this together.

Pre covid, if I was having a bad day I’d go out to party, do a little ( a lot) unnecessary shopping, go out with friends for a movie or simply order my favourite food to make myself feel better but now with all covid restrictions and with above options available, all I needed was a hand-cooked meal from my mom to make me feel better, workout sessions with my sister or my favourite, binge-watching shows with my family.

I realized how these simple pleasures of life are so underrated and I’d never trade this time for anything else.

We as a family consciously try to still celebrate special moments together. Be it birthdays with cakes cooked at home and poetry and videos as gifts, or Christmas, Diwali, and other festivals, where we’d decorate the house, dress up and have a delicious meal. I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said the family kept me sane all this time.

4. Being Grateful

Gratitude was just a word in my dictionary, I knew the meaning of the word but I learnt the meaning of gratitude in the true sense. Never did I thank god for the simple things in life.

There were so many things I took for granted before COVID — the biggest being able to breathe without difficulty without covering your face.

Other really simple things — getting groceries whenever needed, those tea breaks in the office, food deliveries, taking a walk after lunch, not having fogged glasses with masks. As the virus spread and cases increased, restrictions kept becoming stricter and I kept growing more grateful.

Not only did the pandemic make me grateful, but it did also change my perspective about life completely.

I was completely ignorant about how lucky I am and maybe ranting about how hard I must work at my job or sulking about how much traffic there is, frustrated about not being able to achieve certain dreams. Now in the same situation, even if I have to work hard, I thank god I still have a job, if I’m stuck in traffic, I thank god for allowing me to step out of the house and if I’m failing at achieving something, I thank god for being giving me another day to live and work towards achieving this.

Life is all about perspective and although the pandemic has been horrifying there are things you can be grateful for.

I lost weight because I couldn’t go or order from outside so my junk intake reduced, I saved a lot more money otherwise spent on rent, travel, clothes and I got to rediscover myself.

Covid is probably the toughest challenge the whole world is facing together, and if you’re reading this, you survived through it. Give yourself some credit, do whatever makes you happy, and prioritize your health.