For the love of Lockdown
Let’s talk about your credit card bill this month. Didn’t it make you happy? No needless shopping for the items you don’t need. Reduced food joint and cafe bills, indicating less of junk eating.
For the last few days you have been able to get ample of sleep and wake up at your will, gaze at the pollution free blue sky, listen to the chirping of birds and actually recognize who all live in your neighborhood. You have been able to spend more time with your family lately. Many men have realized how important and tiring household chores are. Whereas the demanding WFH of their husbands has made quite some women understand the stress of office work.
Lockdown has turned a lot of our acquaintances and friends, whose cooking skills were limited to daal-chawal and pasta into fabulous chefs and they can’t stop going gaga over their new found love. It’s a delight to see images of their mouth watering dishes on social media. Beyond doubt it is a tough period for the entire world. We are living in the times of uncertainty. But if only we are to live, then why breathe sad, why not steal some sweetness from these bitter times.
The book that you always wanted to read, the movie which was for long on your ‘need to watch’ list. It is the time to complete your promise to them. Remember the last time you said to your friend – ‘I want to start something of my own’, but didn’t knew what it was. It is the time to look for that answer. It’s time to answer all those whats and hows. For all of you who had been citing time as an excuse for not being able to focus on your physical fitness, it’s time for you to ask yourself what percentage of truth that excuse carried. Were you fooling your friends or merely misleading yourself? Start that fitness regime today! all you need is a little space in your room and willingness to sweat that fat. There are several apps with exercise routines and diet charts to inspire and guide you. Download one of them. And once all this is over, fit into that lesser size outfit that you have always dreamt of wearing and leave everyone in awe.
For all the wanderlust souls, who are missing travel the most. It’s time to upgrade your ‘must visit’ list. Enhance your knowledge of the world. Learn and collect information not just about famous travel destinations but also about the hidden gems. There is hardly any chance that you already know about every place on the globe worth travelling. So, browse through travel channels, internet, books and travel magazines. You might just come across your own Machu Picchu. To the ones who had safely packed their prized paint brushes and sewing kits in the cupboard in the hope that they will get it out some day. Rejoice, that ‘someday’ has arrived. It’s time to once again relive your passion. For the ones who had bought that guitar during their college days to impress themselves and others equally. Its time to actually learn playing it. There are online classes and tutorials for every musical instrument. Start playing and impress your elder self now. Explore all the features of that advanced camera that you had bought last year. Experiment with it. Join a webinar and connect with like-minded amateur and professional photographers. Take stunning pictures of your family and the birds who have returned in the sky. For the parents who had an excuse of not being able to spare time for their children. Here is your golden chance. Talk to your kids, tell them stories of your lives, tell them about your glories and your mistakes. We have enough time to call our parents, relatives and all those friends who are miles apart but still hold a special place in our heart. Don’t text, call them, listen to their voice. Laugh at those memories, tease them again in the same old way. We have time for all of this now. Resolve that unspoken tension with your loved ones. Talk it out, there is enough time to listen to why they did it and tell them why you did it. That little kitchen garden you always thought you would liven up your house with. Work on it, see the petals emerge, see the plants grow.
Work on your mental and emotional issues, talk to yourself on every topic you had long suppressed or sidelined. Every thought and emotion that has been crippling you, sort it out. Take help of your close ones or professionals. This is the best time to start with any therapy, you will be able to continue with it without interruption. Add meditation to your routine.
All in all, work on everything you have always wanted time for. And once all this is over startle the world with the better version of yourself. Because even now if you don’t do it, just remember never ever in your life you would be able to say.. “if I had time, I would….