While you are not aware, the nature around you tends to test you again and again. Since the day you are born you have passed through innumerable trials of life and no doubt will pass through many trails again. Right now, our generation is passing through the toughest period yet, the period of lockdowns and quarantine. Life keeps throwing challenges at you, while you try to make sense of what really matters.

The past 2 years have been really hard for you, I know. Some situations must have been make or break for you, others might have scarred you for the rest of your life. Or maybe you passed two years working from home with no change of pace or space, and now growing very restless. You desperately need a break but cannot find a way out! You are approaching breaking point, and fear that this nightmare of a pandemic will never end. You are dealing with pandemic fatigue.

I am not going to lecture you on this condition, you probably know it already. What I want to talk about today is increasing mental resilience and endurance. First things first, stop judging yourself. You should not be inflicting self harm in an already hostile situation. Try to think what you have experienced in that day, what went right and what went wrong. If a lot of things went your way, great! If something went wrong, the kind thing you can do is forgive yourself and everyone involved. Some consequences are out of your hands, and berating yourself will not change what has happened. So just try to relax your body, maybe sit in a garden or your verandah or a room facing a beautiful landscape, and imagine, “Given the situation at that time, would I have taken any other decision? ” Mistakes are only created in retrospect, never while making them. Because you, in that place and time in the universe, would have taken the exact same action or decision as you had done.

Perhaps, you face a different consequence, such as the death of a loved one who breathed their last in the pandemic. You are replaying the moment again and again in your head when you had heard the fateful news. Why does that memory keep haunting you? Is it because something unprecedented had occurred, or you fear it is going to be you next? I know ‘live like it is your last day’ is a bit corny advice. How much can you party and celebrate in the confines of your home?

In this situation, it is better to keep a self-healing journal. Like our body, our mind too needs nourishment, our soul needs care. Write in the journal once in morning about what you have anticipated the day would be like. Then complement it with an evening entry about how much actually panned out. It is like an expectation vs reality showdown. In the event of someone’s death, your journal will bear witness to the stark contrast between the two entries. It will make you realise that life is unexpected, dangerous and difficult, but at the same time peaceful, optimistic and filled with hope for a better tomorrow. You can pen down what exactly you felt while receiving the bad news, and break it down into components. Each emotion must have a justification, where you will decide what do with that emotion. To keep it or not to keep it, is the final step in determining what your overall response should be. You can be heartbroken, or you can be at peace with how the things turned out. Again, the important thing to keep in mind is that some consequences are out of your hands. The journal will help you learn what you can and cannot control in your life.

Once you have got the hang of it, your pandemic fatigue will morph into a journey of self discovery. Knowing yourself is as much an adventure as knowing your loved ones. Out of social contact and conglomerations, your mind will present with the answers about your true calling. Some people spend their whole lives without finding their purpose in life. You need to be really alone with yourself with immense introspection to get hold of this answer. The revelation of your purpose in life will fight the fatigue that has settled in your mind. For sure, self discovery is the best way to vaccinate your mind against it. A person with purpose is never truly asleep. Keep looking for it!

This is something that cannot be taught, only done. You can do everything in your power and find the right answers, but first you have to de-clutter your mind by keeping the self-healing journal. Only the significant things in your life will be highlighted, wherein lies your calling, and that can make all the difference in the world!