Thank you for the overwhelming amount of wishes and blessings over the past few weeks; I am still low on energy but it’s great to be back – back to work, back on Instagram, back on the blog, back to taking walks, back to drinking chai, back to living an ordinary life despite extraordinary circumstances.
While I spoke about my journey on the blog a couple of days ago (I really needed to say so much, cuz I know how overwhelming, scary and stressful this virus can be, if you haven’t read that click here), I wanted to also talk about what this life changing experience has taught me. The idea to write these articles is not to instill any kind of fear; the hope is that my experience might help people in similar situations, the hope is that people remain sensitive and sensible towards the pandemic and lastly the hope is that while this might have been a setback, we shall overcome!
So, without further ado, here are some of my learnings:
#1 An attitude of Gratitude
There is just about everything that we take for granted in our life, and this includes our own precious life; our being here on this planet. At times we take our family for granted, sometimes we take our friends for granted, sometimes it’s our health and well being that we take for granted.
It’s only in helpless and stressful situations that we are reminded of their significance; may it never come to that again.
I have so much gratitude for all that I have and for all that I don’t have.
#2 Genuine Love for my Body
There have been times when I have been so unhappy with my body – every time I wouldn’t fit into a dress, every time I got a migraine, every time I woke up with sore muscles. I would just tell myself, that I am the unluckiest person ever to live in this body since it’s always given me so much pain. But this body fought COVID and how, I am ever so grateful for the accelerated healing that I experienced when my family really needed me.
I will remain grateful and I hope to treat it with utmost love and respect especially in the coming weeks and months while I still recover.
#3 Normalcy is highly underestimated
At a point during the illness, I prayed to the small idol of Ganesha in my bedroom for things to go back to normal. The slight bickering, the mundane silence, complaining about the weather in Basel, getting annoyed by his snoring, not being happy with my afternoon cup of coffee, scolding the lil one about not finishing her meals – I longed for life to just go back to where we left it a couple of weeks ago.
I think it’s very important to realize that each day is a gift; that every moment is special and the idea of an extraordinary experience (where you’re the Queen for a day 😉) is what is overrated.
#4 The art of slow sipping
If you guys know me, then you know that I do a lot of things in my life and I never felt a need to slow down; my friends (and family) would tell me to, my body would give me the signals – but then it gave me immense joy to do this (and that!) and some more of THAT!
With all the rest that I was forced to take; I was absolutely incapacitated, and, in those moments, I realized that life was going on at the same pace for everyone else but me. Everything was somehow working – contracts were still being signed, project deliveries were still happening, MSS was still doing great and many more such milestones didn’t really come to a halt!
Life doesn’t stop for anyone (or anything), so it’s upon us to decide the pace we want to live with and the priorities that we want to set.
PS: I have not quit my job (or anything like that 😉); but I like the state of mindfulness I am in and the tiny steps I have taken which already make me feel a whole lot better.
#5 Relationships
Probably, a sore point, this one – Relationships are constantly put on a test when times are “not so great”. One can turn a blind eye towards it and decide to unsee everything that they saw and experienced or you can decide to make some notes.
I experienced selflessness and this time it was not for my daughter, I am ever so grateful to people who supported me with my work, with food, with essentials, with German speaking medical staff, and the ones who made me remain sane (of course they think that I had gone insane 😉). So, while on one hand I realized that some relationships are stronger but on the other hand I also realized that some aren’t as strong as I thought they were.
Bittersweet, but I prefer to see things.
#6 Building Resilience
The day my husband couldn’t lift himself up was probably one of the worst days of this journey; he had contracted the virus (you know this without a test) and my daughter was complaining of a tummy ache. With children, the virus usually attacks the gastrointestinal tract and I thought at that point that I had failed; failed miserably at protecting them.
The results indicated that my husband was COVID positive, and my daughter had escaped it. My “illness leave” at home ended unexpectedly and I had to pick up the pieces to make sure that we “got better” from one day to the next.
I came through and so did my daughter; we were one unit battling this and we knew that we couldn’t physically stick together but it was an unsaid understanding amongst us. We were going to face this battle head on! For my 10-year-old, this was probably one of the most difficult home situations that she has ever been in. Being a single child, we pamper her and while she did a great job at holding her own; “life skills” continues to hold prime importance, even more after this experience.
What are some of your takeaways from a difficult situation in your life? Share with us in the comments section; we would love to hear your opinions and perspectives.
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