The Lessons I Hope We Learn From Isolation And Lockdown

It looks like *fingers crossed* we are moving closer to the end of lockdown here. I have no idea if it will stick or if we’ll be put back in lockdown again, but it’s a hopeful time. Like most people, I’ve been feeling a bit reflective and I thought I’d share some of the lessons I hope we learn from isolation and this whole experience. Of course, these are just some of my thoughts and observations. I don’t think they’re right, I don’t think they’re wrong. They’re just my thoughts. But maybe they will resonate with someone out there.

The Lessons I Hope We Learn From Isolation And Lockdown

The grass isn’t always greener

I really hope one thing that we take from this is to let go of the ‘grass is always greener’ mentality.

Before quarantine, I always heard people talking about how the kids were growing up so fast and there’s never enough time with them.

Then quarantine forces people to spend time together and the same people are talking about how they can’t wait until the kids are back at school.

Or the people who used to always talk about how they wished they could work from home. How cool it would be to work in your lounge room and wear whatever you want.

Then they get a few weeks of working from home and the same people are complaining about it – how annoying it is to communicate through internet connections dropping during calls and missing the structure of a regular office day.

It’s all a perspective of ‘if it were different, it’d be better or I’d be happier’ and that’s a mentality to let go of.

I hope we can learn to be happy with the grass we have.

How important it is to develop a sense of identity

And a sense of identity without all the distractions of daily life.

I think this experience has been especially hard on people who rooted their identity in superficial things like travel, driving around in their fancy car and eating at nice restaurants, or being overly busy all the time.

Who are you when all that is taken away and you have to sit with yourself?

Who are you in the quiet times?

To me, I think that’s what we should work on – and not just for these types of emergencies, but just for a healthy mental space.

What do you value?

Are there things you enjoy doing just for fun?

What makes you unique?

When to do a friend audit

Hopefully, this has shown how important it is to be guarded with what content you consume, and that comes in the form of narratives from family and friends too.

It’s a contagious cycle. Energy feeds energy – stress feeds stress.

You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with so this is a good time to do a quick friend audit.

Are your friends addicted to being stressed and anxious, constantly refreshing news cycles, and panicking?

Are they shaming other people for how they are reacting?

Or are they distracting themselves with endless productivity?

Or perhaps are they accepting what it is and making the best of the situation?

Basically, are they putting out positivity or negativity?

I don’t think you should cut anyone out of your life, but it can be good to step back from people trapped in the negative energy cycle to make sure your environment is not getting sucked into it.

You have to protect your mental space.

The importance of community

On that note, I hope it’s shown the importance of community.

It’s another funny ‘grass is greener’ thing because prior to isolation people would almost brag about getting out of socializing events in favor of staying in alone.

We took people for granted.

Fast forward to isolation and people are hanging out over zoom calls all of a sudden, face-timing loved ones, and yearning for social time with others.

We need people and social interaction. We need to be part of a team.

Let’s not wait for a global pandemic to check in with loved ones, spend time with friends, or look out for our neighbors.

Appreciate the convenience of daily life

Lastly, I really hope we come out of this with an appreciation for the convenience of our daily lives.

I think there might’ve been too much reliance on ‘what we want, when we want’ because people flipped a switch when they suddenly couldn’t get things on demand.

It was a bit sad to watch, to be honest – sometimes people forget how lucky they are.

Of course, we’re not going to give up the conveniences of modern life, but I think it’s important to recognize how lucky we are and not become entitled to the little luxuries.

I am a big-time believer in proactively adding inconvenience and uncomfortable things to your daily life so when hard times hit, they’re much easier to deal with.

You’re already comfortable being uncomfortable and you’ve built the credibility with yourself to handle it.

It’s made me really grateful for my lifestyle (which I’ve copped shit for from people for years) because that lifestyle has definitely strengthened my discipline to not act on impulse and built a solid resilience for inconvenient times like these.

These are just some of the things I hope we get from all this. Maybe it’s just a big ramble, but I just wanted to share my thoughts with you guys.

Other posts you might enjoy:

• How To Survive Lockdown And Protect Your Mental Health
• On The Importance Of Facing Challenges In This Comfortable World
• Real Talk – What Nobody Tells You About Living Your Truth

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