Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

3204

Abstract

eal well and wholly.</i></p><h2 id="8240">You don't need to control everything. Let others help you.</h2><p id="0b94">I wanted to be in control. I wanted to decide everything. I did not want to be a burden or cause of worry for my family. I told them I needed time and withdrew to sort my thoughts, consult some doctors and decide the next steps. I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. After I calmed down a little, I realised that it wasn’t just about me. Any illness of mine would impact the people around me. As I was in isolation, I would need others to take care of my food, medicine and other daily needs. Also, it would be good to get a buy-in from them on what I thought my plans would be for the next two weeks.</p><p id="6668">I slowly learned to release my need for control and move to be more open. It was difficult for me as I am used to being in charge. Soon I found that it was less stressful and liberating not to control all the time. To allow someone else to decide. It was the ultimate release — to know that I had people around me who I could depend on and that that was okay. And it felt like I was free. All my fear of being dependant went away, and a quiet calm and unity came over me.</p><p id="ddd2"><i>You, too, will need to accept that you will not control everything. And you cannot handle everything yourself. It is better to share and jointly come to decisions. Sit back and enjoy being looked after — It is a privilege.</i></p><h1 id="561f">Choose</h1><h2 id="6059">Guardian angels exist — let them in.</h2><p id="57ce">Like as if from nowhere, a group of angels emerged to take care of my every need. My family, friends, colleagues and even strangers. My primary caretakers were my sons. But apart from them, at least eight different people would check in on me every day. Love, care, healthy food, ideas, prayers, advice galore came my way. I even had a friend who sent me a new song to listen to every day. Doctors emerged from within my extended family to check on my oxygen saturation and tell me that everything would be okay. The best feeling was when I just relaxed and believed them. It was like all burden had left me.</p><p id="e92b"><i>You can find calm and joy by trusting and depending on people around you and accepting their good wishes and care as blessings.</i></p><h2 id="42a1">Choose positive interactions.</h2><p id="60ae">Yes, family and friends came together, and I began looking forward to their video and zoom calls. I scheduled them so that I wouldn’t tire too much. When looking at my parents and sisters face, I realised that they needed the zoom calls as much as I did. I had to smile; I had to get better. I had to be strong. I had to reassure them that I was okay and would be fine. Day after day, seeing the love on the faces of my family and friends, we all recovered together. Me from coronavirus and them from their worry for me.</p><p id="d54c"><i>Staying positive is essential. Choose who you want to spend time with, share your love with them and use their care to help heal yourself.</i></p><h2 id="8e21">Choose gratitude, balance guilt.</h2><p id="3ba1">So many people around me were struggling to find hospitals, so many

Options

people searching for oxygen cylinders. I had a deep sense of gratitude that my symptoms were mild and that I was keeping well. At the same time, there was an equally powerful sense of guilt. Why was I being allowed to get off so lightly while others were struggling? It was no greatness of mine or fault of theirs. Accepting and balancing these two was critical for me to achieve peace.</p><p id="94cd"><i>Remember that your life is not always in your control. Be grateful for what comes your way and accept and balance other emotions. It is a tough time to be on this earth. Get well, and then you can help people around you.</i></p><h1 id="74eb">Learn</h1><h2 id="64b9">Live fully. Use this time to learn and expand.</h2><p id="3b93">On day 5, it occurred to me that I would have 12–14 days where I had no other responsibilities apart from work and myself. I had the opportunity to explore and try out things that I hadn’t the time for or hadn’t thought about before. For the first time in my adult life, I had my own space and time with no one else in it. That realisation changed my outlook, and I started to look at my day like never before — 24 hours a day where I could decide what to do when. And with no urgency or rush of coping with the needs of anyone else. I didn't schedule meetings after 4, listened to my favourite music and read books that had piled up on my bedside table.</p><p id="b6cd">One of the most important things I did during my isolation was to attend a 5-day retreat on mindfulness by Unified Mindfulness. I was sent a message about the retreat by a friend and would have otherwise ignored it. Now that I had opened my mind, I said, if I am going to make time for myself, why not explore this. It was a truly fantastic experience. I studied, I listened, I meditated, and I found the space in my day. I can honestly say my life expanded and filled during my isolation period. Expanded with rest, expanded with reflection, and broadened with learning and realisation as to what it could be. I have continued 30 minutes a day for the next month and would like to keep this up—a covid time learning, with me forever.</p><p id="1caf"><i>Make the most of your time, catch up on things you had wanted to do. Take the day slowly and treasure each moment of extra time and space. Acknowledge that you are lucky to be alive and pour that value into your day. You, too, can choose to do a course online, join a yoga class, read a book, study something—anything you have wanted to. You won't get this chance often, and you can plan your days to make the time.</i></p><p id="1a75">Today when I look back at my illness, I feel grateful. Not just because I am well, but also because I was able to fill my life, learn from the experience and grow and expand as a person. I was able to feel vulnerable and cared for by so many people, and I carry that feeling with me every day.</p><p id="3f3e">My wish for you is, if you do have the misfortune of being isolated for 14 days due to coronavirus, think back to this post and get ideas about how you can use this time to expand your life and make it more powerful. Use the time and make it worthwhile, something to remember!</p></article></body>

How My Covid Isolation Left My Life Richer and More Fulfilled

Accept, choose, learn — simple ideas that could help you too

Coronavirus seems like it is going to get to each of us sooner or later. If you are one of the lucky ones to have a mild infection, this post can benefit you. These ideas are just what you need to help you come through more fulfilled than you were earlier.

I am 53 and had a mild coronavirus infection. I managed to enrich my life in many ways during my isolation period. Of course, there were moments of fear and ups and downs, worries and calm. But I had experiences that will help me in the long run. I used my isolation time to grow myself. Many of my learnings have stayed with me, and I will share these with you. You could use my learnings to help yourself. Each one of us is different, and different things will work for you. Reflect on my learnings. You will get some ideas that will help you expand your life during your isolation.

I am going to chart out the emotions and actions that I went through. And what helped me. In the same situation, you could select what would help you and help yourself cope and build something positive.

Accept

Do not let fear overcome you.

When I first got the coronavirus symptoms, I isolated myself immediately. I was sure that I just had a cold and fever. The RTPCR test results made me panic. I was positive! There were scary stories of no beds available at hospitals, no oxygen cylinders for those who needed them, people struggling and dying outside emergency rooms. Would I be one of them? I was terrified. I couldn’t breathe at first out of fear, and I had to calm myself down.

You will be scared too. It is natural, so try to accept it as reality, and you will be able to move ahead.

Respect the disease and listen to your body.

Very early on, a cousin said to me — You must respect the disease, and you must listen to your body. Both these are very important. Yes, one has to respect the disease and its potential impact on your life. Not to forget the effect it could have on other people's lives around you. The virus has after-effects that we cannot anticipate — fatigue, weakness, breathing difficulties, harm to organs and systems. Keep a clear chart of all parameters taken four times a day at the same time so that you can compare and have all details to share with the doctor.

It is very tempting to bounce back with the excitement of your fever going away but listen to your body and rest when it wants to rest. Give it the respect it deserves and heal well and wholly.

You don't need to control everything. Let others help you.

I wanted to be in control. I wanted to decide everything. I did not want to be a burden or cause of worry for my family. I told them I needed time and withdrew to sort my thoughts, consult some doctors and decide the next steps. I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. After I calmed down a little, I realised that it wasn’t just about me. Any illness of mine would impact the people around me. As I was in isolation, I would need others to take care of my food, medicine and other daily needs. Also, it would be good to get a buy-in from them on what I thought my plans would be for the next two weeks.

I slowly learned to release my need for control and move to be more open. It was difficult for me as I am used to being in charge. Soon I found that it was less stressful and liberating not to control all the time. To allow someone else to decide. It was the ultimate release — to know that I had people around me who I could depend on and that that was okay. And it felt like I was free. All my fear of being dependant went away, and a quiet calm and unity came over me.

You, too, will need to accept that you will not control everything. And you cannot handle everything yourself. It is better to share and jointly come to decisions. Sit back and enjoy being looked after — It is a privilege.

Choose

Guardian angels exist — let them in.

Like as if from nowhere, a group of angels emerged to take care of my every need. My family, friends, colleagues and even strangers. My primary caretakers were my sons. But apart from them, at least eight different people would check in on me every day. Love, care, healthy food, ideas, prayers, advice galore came my way. I even had a friend who sent me a new song to listen to every day. Doctors emerged from within my extended family to check on my oxygen saturation and tell me that everything would be okay. The best feeling was when I just relaxed and believed them. It was like all burden had left me.

You can find calm and joy by trusting and depending on people around you and accepting their good wishes and care as blessings.

Choose positive interactions.

Yes, family and friends came together, and I began looking forward to their video and zoom calls. I scheduled them so that I wouldn’t tire too much. When looking at my parents and sisters face, I realised that they needed the zoom calls as much as I did. I had to smile; I had to get better. I had to be strong. I had to reassure them that I was okay and would be fine. Day after day, seeing the love on the faces of my family and friends, we all recovered together. Me from coronavirus and them from their worry for me.

Staying positive is essential. Choose who you want to spend time with, share your love with them and use their care to help heal yourself.

Choose gratitude, balance guilt.

So many people around me were struggling to find hospitals, so many people searching for oxygen cylinders. I had a deep sense of gratitude that my symptoms were mild and that I was keeping well. At the same time, there was an equally powerful sense of guilt. Why was I being allowed to get off so lightly while others were struggling? It was no greatness of mine or fault of theirs. Accepting and balancing these two was critical for me to achieve peace.

Remember that your life is not always in your control. Be grateful for what comes your way and accept and balance other emotions. It is a tough time to be on this earth. Get well, and then you can help people around you.

Learn

Live fully. Use this time to learn and expand.

On day 5, it occurred to me that I would have 12–14 days where I had no other responsibilities apart from work and myself. I had the opportunity to explore and try out things that I hadn’t the time for or hadn’t thought about before. For the first time in my adult life, I had my own space and time with no one else in it. That realisation changed my outlook, and I started to look at my day like never before — 24 hours a day where I could decide what to do when. And with no urgency or rush of coping with the needs of anyone else. I didn't schedule meetings after 4, listened to my favourite music and read books that had piled up on my bedside table.

One of the most important things I did during my isolation was to attend a 5-day retreat on mindfulness by Unified Mindfulness. I was sent a message about the retreat by a friend and would have otherwise ignored it. Now that I had opened my mind, I said, if I am going to make time for myself, why not explore this. It was a truly fantastic experience. I studied, I listened, I meditated, and I found the space in my day. I can honestly say my life expanded and filled during my isolation period. Expanded with rest, expanded with reflection, and broadened with learning and realisation as to what it could be. I have continued 30 minutes a day for the next month and would like to keep this up—a covid time learning, with me forever.

Make the most of your time, catch up on things you had wanted to do. Take the day slowly and treasure each moment of extra time and space. Acknowledge that you are lucky to be alive and pour that value into your day. You, too, can choose to do a course online, join a yoga class, read a book, study something—anything you have wanted to. You won't get this chance often, and you can plan your days to make the time.

Today when I look back at my illness, I feel grateful. Not just because I am well, but also because I was able to fill my life, learn from the experience and grow and expand as a person. I was able to feel vulnerable and cared for by so many people, and I carry that feeling with me every day.

My wish for you is, if you do have the misfortune of being isolated for 14 days due to coronavirus, think back to this post and get ideas about how you can use this time to expand your life and make it more powerful. Use the time and make it worthwhile, something to remember!