Pause, rewind, restart!

It said that every “obstacle” that you face, brings hidden “opportunity” for you. So true it is! When we were busy living our fast-paced lives, we all faced “obstacle” in the form of “lockdown”. Corona pandemic reduced our pace of life drastically. It was as if a fast running car was brought to halt suddenly due to unforeseen pothole or speed-breaker on the smooth road.

Initially everyone was overwhelmed by the unprecedented situation. Concept of “lockdown” was new, so was “mandatory work-from-home”. It took weeks to digest the overall happenings around and to adapt to those. Needless to say everyone went through emotional rollercoaster – happy, anxious, sad, overwhelmed, depressed, fearful and what not.

I am not exception to this. I too went through all this. From struggling to put simple time-table to fulfilling additional responsibilities at home, every single thing was challenging and mentally taxing. However, it was the same time that afforded me opportunity to sit back and reflect back on my life. I did all by myself what I had learned in Jagriti Yatra – I did my lifeline exercise. Lifeline exercise is the one where you revisit your life, plotting all your highs & lows. 

Mandatory Lockdown & this lifeline activity made me realise how privileged I am. I live a life where I have my dearest people around me; where my friends, colleagues, relatives even teachers keep calling me or texting me just to check on me if I am all good; where I am blessed with 5 fur kids – 1 dog & 4 cats; where I don’t have to struggle for basic necessities – food, clothing, shelter; I live a life where I am blessed with every possible good thing that is essential to not only survive but also thrive in life.

Unfortunately, all this while, I was taking all these things including my life itself for granted. It took me a virus, followed by mandatory lockdown, to recognise all my blessings.

It is during adversities, that one remember and recall all those magical moments one has lived. And such magical moments can be very simple one – be it hot cup of chai when you take refuge of road-side tea-stall during unexpected rains; or be it the compliment that you get for your work from your senior, any small moment is enough to make your whole day.

And it is the collection of all such tiny little moments that adorn your life in a beautiful way. However, it is us who only want to focus on dark or lame moment. Remembering your best moments & cherishing them is just like that lighting those lamps during Diwali-night which makes it all the more beautiful. Life’s highs and lows are nothing but this darkness and light. We need both to decorate our lives & to understand the importance of both.

I realised, we need to recall both these dark & light, high & low moments of life. Journey from high to low saves you from being egoistic. Your own downfall teaches you the best of the life lessons and highlights the areas which you need to work on. On the other hand, journey from low to high shows you your own grit and determination. It shows what a warrior you are & you are your own saviour. High point shows that howsoever worst it can get in life; there is always a hope & brand new tomorrow.

I remembered a time when I had met with serious accident when I was 13 year old. Back then I thought I will never survive & die. Now when I remember that time, I just laugh at my own thought. I have not just survived but thrived. This particular incident also gives me strength that “this too shall pass”.  

While the “obstacle” was sudden halt of life, “opportunity” was to restructure our lives. In our so called “busy” lives, we rarely acknowledge and thank, let alone reciprocate what goodness we get. Do we ever thank our mom for the lovely delicacies she makes when you are in bad mood? Do we thank the uncle that brews tasty tea/ coffee for us? Do we sit back to experience the mystical and healing power of the nature? Do we even nurture ourselves – our mind, our body? Answer to this is “Yes, I would surely do this if only time permits”.

All these things don’t even need more time of yours. All it needs is your response, your reciprocity. This is how growing is done. This is what is needed for co-existence & mutual growth.

Life is short and unpredictable. It is also beautiful. It has millions of blessings to offer & it does offer. However, we don’t often remember it. Let alone remember, we even fail to recognise it. Needless to say, we therefore don’t reciprocate what we get. And that is what makes us anxious, angry easily and we resist to any minute change in our lives.

This pandemic is blessing in disguise, in a sense, it has activated in a synchronized manner following buttons of life - Pause, Rewind, Restart. It is a very rare, once in a millennium opportunity. Let us collectively reboot our lives. Let us coexist, let us grow together. Last but not the least life is beautiful & lucky ones get an opportunity to live it. Let us value it. Let us make maximum out of it & make this world a better place to live. Let us nurture ourselves and those around us & cherish our existence.

Gratitude!!!