Yeah, you heard it right! Wondering what it is???
We, human beings are social animals. We love to indulge, engage, involve, get together and all sorts of things on that platform which could make us feel normal. So when the pandemic hits us and all the other restrictions showered upon us along with it made us feel shocked, irritated, angry, sick, bored, upset , anxious, depressed, fat and what not.
We, human beings are also very good in trying our best to get us out of the difficult situation as well. Even though we still managed to fit us in by doing work at home, joining all sorts of classes on baking, stitching, dancing, yoga and anything and everything that could make us find the same joy of the old normal, we still felt a huge vaccum in our days. The 24 hours felt much longer and the things we managed to put it were never enough to fill in the “extra” time we got on our hands all of a sudden.
Me, as a practicing physician found it strange and clueless when a patient walked in and said he is not feeling well and do not know why. After the routine tests, dietary recommendations, marathon advises about what could help him, I still have the person reaching out feeling “not well”.
SARS-CoV-2 affected us in many ways more than we could ever imagine. The worst was it’s unkind way of locking us in, taking lives and I feel the most difficult part was it’s uncertainty that made us feel as if we are staring at an abyss wondering we could ever find an end to it.
Eventually, when the world understood that feeling depressed, anxious and low or foggy brain are some of the things Corona virus left us with after paying a visit. This could be understood easily as an after effect of an illness. There lies the problem too. So what about those people who weren’t affected with this? Why are they not feeling “well”?.
Some of the factors that keep us supreme among the mammals are the ability to engage, interact, talk, smile, spend time with each other etc. The new normal was no fun. Inspite of we trying to make it up by engaging with over indulgence in social media, buying matching masks, setting up a make shift work station at home and trying our best to adapt to the new normal, we still find ourselves wondering what’s missing.
The absence of well being is a situation that fell on us along with the pandemic whether we are affected grossly by it or not. The unexplained loss of sleep, fatigue, sadness, achy body, irregular appetite and an emptiness are some of the signs of it. All the normal blood parameters and vitals made us more anxious wondering how to tackle the new situation.
What helped are the awareness, acceptance and considering one day at a time. Yes, the rat race, the busy schedule, the greed over need are all finally coming to a halt. Our mind and body needed slowing down and understand what’s happening to us and what could be done for it. Health is an everyday job. There are days it can make us a hardworking person and could also surprise us by feeling absolutely well by just fooling around. Listen to your body and mind. We are a living entity. Being kind to oneself and appreciate the big or small concerns that could affect us in the form of an illness or worry. Be aware. Mindful eating, burning adequate calories, sound sleep, good hydration, spending quality time for ourselves, doing at least one thing we are passionate about in a day and most importantly listening to our mind and body are the key. Let us try our best to be in sink with ourselves so that we don’t get too alarmed or affected with any of the happenings around us.
Staying well is an overall result of all the small healthy positive things we include in a day. As like the proverb goes, it takes all the small drops to become an ocean. It’s not about the number of years, it’s the quality of it, after all.
Dr Natasha Lal
+91 9972734245
