What would you do when there is a certain amount of psychological pressure building up in your mind because of the harm that might happen to those you care about?
It is personal, isn’t it? I mean, in the movies, the plot usually goes with a terrorist taking hostage of the hero’s family. They typically don’t win, but in this case, the chance of COVID killing your loved ones is very likely.
The Worry
I tend to think of myself as a simple man — someone with the least amount of expectations. I do mess up the equation of life every once in a while. Let me explain.
Our life is filled with choices — some based around our earthly brains and some: pure dull-witted.
Sometimes we tend to forget those around us; we become so selfish that our inner soul creates a shield around itself, depriving anyone’s thoughts and matters. We temporarily lose empathy.
But, when something life-threatening happens around us, we become less self-centered. our subconscious regains the control to shake the soul and be empathetic.
The virus which shook the world since 2019 made a lot of people suffer, including my family and me. We survived, but I can’t stop thinking about those who didn’t. Those in the hospital. Those who took care of the sick and got sick.
Come to think of it, we barely managed to dodge this disaster.
Misinformation could come at a deadly cost to so many that naively listen, read, and accept almost anything.
Mindfulness Is Fading Away
What is going on? Where am I? What am I currently doing? These are some questions we tend to forget to ask in our daily lives.
It seems most of our tasks are repetitive, and our subconscious is making a fool out of us.
I haven’t gotten anybody sick, but I do question this: what was the person who got me ill thinking when he sneezed in close proximity and transferred the virus to me. Did he even care? Or was he a careful, responsible person, albeit forgetful? Maybe he was inconsiderate, I hope he wasn’t.
or
I was not careful enough to always stay 2 meters apart from him? I did wear masks all the time, but how effective are they when someone sneezes in the air and not in the mask?
We have a cultural problem here.
As a designer, I must ask the why question to figure out the root cause. I can’t seem to get my head around this one.
Is it because people have become too careless? Or is it because I have been too sloppy? I might be the problem.
Often, we tend to point someone/something for a problem, yet we are to blame.
Meditation as Medication
Meditation is the key to soothe your inner self and deprive yourself of any evil thoughts, especially to stay sane during these challenging times.
Meditation has been a pathway for me to find peace and focus my attention on what matters and leave the rest of my worries to their appropriate time.
I’ve been practicing meditation to calm my mind, and focus on breathing techniques. Let my thoughts go and simply observe them — see where they are leading to and how their destinations is affecting my mood.
I recommend using Calm, an application by Sam Harris, available on the app store.
Nowadays, technology is helping us in more ways imaginable while being feasible and accessible.
All you need is a smartphone and a pair of headphones.
Mental vs. Physical Battle
It would be uncool to say this virus only affects your physical health. Remember, anything in life that causes physical struggle is merely showing itself by triggering your nerves.
I have seen people struggling with medical conditions unfathomable to many. Those who survived chose to focus and narrow their attention on simple positive matters in life.
I chose to follow this path; However, being as strong as them is another challenge on its own.
Physically speaking, I had trouble breathing for a while. There were constant sweat and light headaches — Those I could endure. But, when they affected my parents, it shifted my worries towards them.
One can see no greater pain than to endure the suffering and the struggle of those close to you.
Health Improvement
I tested positive five times, but it didn’t matter. What a relief it was hearing my parents’ third test returned NOT DETECTED. There are some joint aches and shortness of breath, but their condition seems to be improving day by day.
Word of Caution
As far as I know, nobody is safe out there. Listen, people, you need to be careful. My parents and I stood home because if we were careless, one infection would be enough to wreak havoc on our neighborhood.
Don’t forget: It is better safe than sorry.
Recommendations For Those Struggling
Here are my recommendations for those infected by COVID-19:
- Your immune system needs constant care, so don’t forget to take care of it by consuming healthy foods.
- If you live with someone, isolate yourself as you live in a prison cell — only get out once you know your housemate is out of the house.
- If you don’t have masks with filtration, then wear two masks on top of each other.
- Always wash your hands and also use alcohol-based disinfectants to clean any item you touch in the house.
- Your phones and tablets are dirtier than they appear. Make sure to clean them at least 2 times a day (also also don’t spray alcohol on your screen, it will damage the display, simply spray on top of a microfiber cloth and wipe the device with it [make sure to clean all surfaces as well] )
- Your keyboard and mouse/trackpad need to be cleaned as well; my recommendation is to use alcohol pads on them and a microfiber cloth to wipe it afterward.
- Make sure all the windows in your house are open, and fresh air is continuously flowing.
- Do not eat fast food or anything with lots of fat and sugar. Consuming them was prohibited by my doctor until the last day, my test result came negative.
Final Thoughts
If you have covid, the very first thing that will affect you will not be the disease’s symptoms, it will be your mind (mostly depression in my case).
You won’t know how severe the infection is; all you know is that you might not survive, but that is the point! You don’t know! So there is no point in second-guessing every possible thought and assumption.
Think about what incredible things you are going to do in your life once this disease is gone.
Thank you for reading this.
