“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.
—Martin Luther King Jr.”
Corona, is an enemy that we all have, that we all are expected to fight. It is faceless, sexless, raceless, non-denominational and bi-partisan. It has left the economy in shambles. It’s at its peak right now and lockdown was indeed the need of the hour to ensure physical distancing. Owing to the lockdown, we have got all the time in the world for ourselves and for the work that can be done within the comfort of one's home. This is a crucial time in our global efforts to tackle COVID-19 and a time to turn commitments into actions. This year is going to be decisive for you all. As a result, it becomes important for us to manage our time effectively so as to ensure fruitful results. Chalking out a plan for your day/week/month can be very helpful.
The very first thing in this regard is to set realistic goals. Decide on what you need to do in the near future and what farther in the future. In this way you'll get in terms with your short-term and long-term goals. As a student your goals can incorporate various important aspects including studies, devoting time to your hobbies, indulging in constructive activities, spending your time with family, having me time and the like. Categorize your tasks on the basis of urgency and importance. Afterwards set a time constraint which will enable you to perform with full potential and do complete justice. However, keep this in mind that performing continuously without taking a break will hamper your work efficiency. Allow some downtime to yourself to reboot. You can make it a part of your habit that at the end of each day you note down your “to do” list for the following day.
In the current situation that our country is in, there is a dire need for us to take care of ourselves and of the people around us and not get paranoid, let’s do our due with diligence and take the precautions we need to. We need to intentionally promote positive emotions like happiness, joy, awe, wonder, love, compassion, empathy and the like since these emotions are the key foundation of essentials and not a mere luxury. You can surf the internet to find stuff that will make you chuckle and you can even share the same with your family or friends via social sites, you can create a happy soundtrack or a happy library, reminisce your happy memories so as to treasure happy chemicals in your brain. Show gratitude, it leads to high levels of optimism, reduces levels of stress and anxiety, decreases depression, improves immune system response thereby improving your health. You can accommodate this into your routine to perform an activity called "WWW" i.e. What Went Well before going to bed.
This is a testing time period. We are all aware about precautions concerning physical health like washing hands, and practicing social distancing, wearing mask and the like. On the contrary mental health has received less emphasis although it is equally important. The pandemic situation has increased our stress. The thought of catching the virus, dealing with this uncertainty, changing day to day life routines, no social contact, cabin fever has paved the way for anxiety. We need to stay calm, serene and in command of ourselves. If you are stressed out and anxious, focus on controlling your breathing (deep breathing exercises, backward counting). Don't let yourself get obsessed with watching the news regarding COVID-19 because the stats will only get worse before they get better. Prefer reading books you couldn't devote time to because of your busy schedule, or watch Netflix. Give meditation a thought. It's meditation that can pull out the latent power of an individual. It will calm your nerves down; make you feel grounded and balanced. We are currently at a red light, with a lot of restrictions, lots of do's and don'ts that need to be kept in mind. We are amidst a state of panic but we need to realise that if there's a red light there's a green light too! Together we need to practice our values of kindness, respect, accountability, fairness, resilience, courage. Later in our lives when we will look back at this time, we will realise that the entire world stood unified in their fight against corona, a virus that was a threat to human survival. But together we can overcome this, together we can fight this. Staying by each other's side we can and we will survive this.
Let’s turn the red light into green light.
Regards
Sumit Yadav (Senior School Counsellor)
