By Ms. Deepika Bhosale (Counselling Psychologist)

Today,  as I looked around, everything seemed quiet and calm. Yess! Things have changed from the past and everything seems different but does that does not mean we have to stop ourselves from doing various things right?

We all are going through massive mental and emotional ups and downs. Listening to news and other stories makes us feel nervous and worried about our future. What can we do to keep our mind relaxed and calm in such a situation? As a mental health professional i would like to share one of my experiences…….

Everyday I followed a set of routine and everything used to be scheduled accordingly. Since, the COVID 19 came into our lives a lot of things have definitely changed. For example,  Earlier, we used to inform children to focus on extra curricular activities rather than involving themselves into mobile phones and other gadgets but now the scenario has flipped like a coin wherein children and other members will have to adapt themselves into a digitized world. As we all are fighting an internal battle everything seems bitter!! Right?

However, I was experiencing something like that…
As the lockdown started my schedule and daily routine got shifted and everything was “VIRTUAL”. There were so many things I wasn’t aware about such as operating technology. Therefore, the chances of miscommunications were more. As the days passed by, I started feeling “NERVOUS” about how everything was going to work out?  Will I be able to manage? There was this notion of “FEAR OF MISSING” wherein the fear of losing loved one’s. Everyday I was feeling “RESTLESS”.
As the days passed by I started wondering till when are we going to be worried and restless?

There needs to be a path right?

There needs to be a different way of dealing with difficulties?
Slowly, I started focusing on my thought pattern wherein I realised I was constantly indulging myself into negative thought. This is where I realised I need to calm myself and restructure my thought pattern.

Majorly, I focus on “SELF TALK”
This is something which we all are aware of and very important. Incorporating self talk has helped me to structure my thought pattern and my perspective. Apart from self talk, the most important is to AFFIRM AND ACKNOWLEDGE ourselves everyday. Everyday is a challenging day for us therefore acknowledging our smallest effort means a lot!! There are times when we are unable to understand ourselves and other people’s feelings. We can focus on how we are feeling. All of these feelings are important for us to look up to and make us alert.

I would like to conclude by stating “Life is precious and we live it once everyday. So why don’t we focus on creating memories and cherish each and every moment because when you do stop for a moment to look around this life is pretty amazing!