The Gift of Veracity

About 2 months ago on a dusky evening, you hear the notification bell on your phone, you reach for it, expecting a meme or an unceremonious message from a friend but you are in for a surprise, it’s your university bearing the news of suspending classes for a little bit, how ironic, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone is thrilled, exuberant, and overwhelmed about having all day to themselves, like a sense of vacation settles in.

Eventually, as all things come to an end, so did this enlivening lifestyle. Another notification, “Classes to resume on online platforms along with tests, assignments and projects and attendance is compulsory”, reading this felt as though we had carried our universities to our houses along with our vacation bags.

All the stress, pressure, and tension that had found its way out the flood gates had crept back in through the wide-open doors.

These unprepared and uninvited changes started to take a toll on our mental health. Feeling compelled to be productive day in and day out, finishing all the assignments on time, and taking up monthly internal assessments started to bring out the never existed nervousness and the regret of constantly not being “productive enough”. Coming from a last semester engineering student, I exactly know how overwhelming, frustrating, and poignant this situation can make one feel.

This is when I knew that times had to change and my lifestyle and I as a person had to change all together if I had to come out of this, not being docile and take hold of the situation.

It’s ironic how in our lives we have time for anything but for ourselves. We believe that being cooped up in a room and binge-watching a show is the best time we are giving ourselves but that’s far from what it means in the dictionaries.

As a self changer, I started my journey on giving myself the gift of living in the present.

I woke up early in the morning when everyone is sound asleep and you have no one or anything to derange you. I sit on my balcony with my eyes closed and focus on the gentle music and my breathing pattern and with all kindness, push aside all the thoughts ping-ponging in my head for just about 2-5 mins. On completing those heavenly 2-5 minutes of silence, a sense of being unassailable settles in and I would not trade anything for those few minutes of my compelling day. It gave me back the necessary energy and cheering to help me rally through the rest of my busy schedule, stress packed day which is what we are largely neglecting. And this suggestion of mine wins all the votes and do yourselves a favor and do not deprive yourselves of this small gift of veracity.

#selflove #selfcare #mentalhealth #battleingstress #anxiety #peerpressure #COVID #studentlife #stress.