Mental Health: Let’s pay heed!

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Nothing can be ever worth to end a life for this is the most benevolent gift! Having said that, sadly, empathy is so rare and coveted in this make-believe world. "Empathy is not saying I know how you feel. Empathy is saying I want to know how you feel," says life coach Jay Shetty.
We all have mourned the sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput- someone who was talented, intellectual, well read, leading a life that would be aspiring to many. Then, what lead to this? This has triggered us to look deeper within ourselves, our life, and importantly, mental health.

Again, it's been proven that the biggest possession for a human being or a “thinking being” over everything else is mental peace. While we share posts and mourn the loss, we should also be aware of what impact our actions and words make on others.
We need to value and believe in ourselves especially when the odds are aplenty. Reinstate self worth, it's so important to break the bubble of negative thoughts and find hope and a reason to live. Because no matter how bad a phase, it is going to pass- we all have experienced it and have come out of it.

While everyone teaches us what life should be like and we too pursue it in some way, no one really teaches us how to live life. While there is a gargantuan canvas of social media to express our joy and show the bright colours of life, sadly there isn’t much room to show our low shades- which in fact, is more important!

That is the irony of today’s age- connected to everyone, but able to reach out to none? Why we humans cannot talk about our weaknesses? Why can’t we express our lows? Seek help?  This further underlines the need to have genuine well-wishers, friends, family- to have someone to share your most inner rooted insecurities, threats and feelings.

Above all this, we need to remember and reiterate to ourselves, first and foremost, “I am my companion.” Only you have known yourself from ever. Only you have best known your struggles, pains, sufferings and joy- you have experienced it firsthand. While we talk about commitments in all kinds of relationships, do we pay heed to this commitment to ourselves? Sometimes, it’s only you who can help you. We need to be our own saviours, own counsellors- find a solution- test what works for you, what doesn't, breathe deeply, be patient with yourself. Invest in yourself. You will only emerge stronger!

So, prioritise yourself, accept and love yourself, realize your self-worth. You are important! Jay Shetty rightly puts it that it is important to love yourself first to pass on that affection to others.

At times, it’s extremely crucial to pull yourself out of the drudgery of thoughts, obsession of irrational ideas or those beyond your reach. I know it’s easy said than done. Often, life takes us to dead ends, pinning us down with all its might, but then, we need to hunt for that one reason to continue, to hang on. We need to be so resilient within ourselves. While our own mind can be the biggest monster we know; we should learn to tame it. We need to train our minds and self to react to adversities in a positive and sustained way. So many times, we have learnt lessons ourselves. There are so many battles that only you know that you have fought and won! We have learnt from our experiences. There is more to life!

Remember this-

"The story of your life has many chapters. One bad chapter doesn’t mean it’s the end of the book.”

When Nature presses the PAUSE button

When Nature presses the PAUSE button

PC: Google Images

2020- man went on with his job, in a hurry to reach somewhere, he has never known- possessed by greed and want, like he has always been for millennia- until unknowingly, unprecedentedly, a novel virus as tiny as 70 to 80 nanometre (a human hair is about 80000 nanometre) locked him inside his own house, shunning all his routine, developments, throwing all the administration, governments of the most powerful states in a limbo. Largely, it punctured the man’s ego, showing the most intelligent and condescending creature how diminutive he is and that he is not ‘indispensable’.

In this catastrophe, what travelled faster than the virus were myths, rumours, misconceptions, and never-ending theories. Soon, literature and movies intrigued us with doomsday works referring to the virus and the apocalypse thereby. In inclusion were ‘The Eyes of Darkness’- a 1981 novel by Dean Koontz allegedly predicting the pandemic, prediction in The Simpsons and even not spared was 16^th century French astrologer, Nostradamus. People went as far as terming it a biological warfare by China and that it was lab-made. However, an analysis has shown that there is no such evidence, and it is a product of natural evolution.

While we all know this, and a lot could be written on the various aspects of corona outbreak, I would like to choose a utopian account on this. Isn’t it an opportunity for self-reflection? To pause and look inside- to introspect what we have been pursuing all the while? To connect with one and look up to the greater power- nature! Angela Fischer, Global Peace Initiative of Women said, “When outer borders are being closed we can begin again to open up our inner borders... We can devote ourselves again to the feminine wisdom inside all of us that shows us how to communicate, to be in relationship to each other and to the inner worlds.”

1. De-cluttering and social distancing: When the world was all about networking, we wanted to be in touch with everyone- with the world around; the corona outbreak introduced ‘social distancing’ and isolation. Indeed, a way to detach yourself from the world and look within- for small things that matter. With even worship places being shut, man is learning to connect with the Supreme Being that has been inside him. It has given him an opportunity to de-clutter the materialistic possessions. Though hesitatingly, he is learning to spend quality time with family (that matters the most), enjoying without theatres, malls and restaurants and online deliveries! He is after a long-long time, learning to be minimalistic- cooking staple and eating home food, doing domestic chores and learning to be self-reliant!

2. An opportunity to do something you’ve always longed for: Often, you and me, everyone has complained of paucity of time, busy schedules for not having pursued our interests or for learning something new. This has come as a generous dividend to let you do exactly that. But as have been engineered to work on obligations, moving away and doing something of your own, on your own can also be a challenge. But then, let’s chuck the laziness and make the best of this rare opportunity.

3. Unity in Adversity: “Adversity allows us the opportunity to find out what we are capable of, to develop our strengths, and to access aspects of ourselves that we did not know existed and inner resources we didn’t know we had.”- Jennifer Lehr

This global adversity brought forth the humane face of many. People, celebrities, individuals- in their own capacity are coming forward to help the needy. A septuagenarian has been sending meals to the police even when her mess is shut, temples are helping to provide meals to the slogging doctors and hospital staff, while police are feeding the poor and hungry on streets; yet others are lining up (with the set rules) to donate blood. People took out time to laud the efforts of the community workers in unison.

Virologist Dr. Meenal Dakhave Bhosale designed the first India indigenous testing kit, giving the fastest results, just a day before her delivery!

Adversity, indeed, teaches us to be selfless, sharing and a little more caring!

4. The Earth is healing: We were too busy to pay heed to nature. But the pandemic has brought us to the realization that “Nature doesn't need people- people need nature”. While today there is no good news for us, humans, for our Mother Earth there is. The very vital ozone layer is finally healing, dolphins have made an entry into the Mumbai sea shores (apparently due to drop in fishing activity and ship movements) and finally, global pollution is seeing a decrease for the first time ever in over two decades.

While the world looks gloomy today, with deserted streets and places, we need to keep hope that things will turn better, and they will, as man has overcome many such deadly epidemics in the past. The world will be teeming with people once again; but what we need to be sure is- to take a lesson from this global crisis, stay grounded, stop taking things for granted, stay balanced and emerge wiser.

xx