Surviving hard times: Overcoming lockdown.

Everywhere you go its lockdown. Each time you turn on the television or listen to the radio its lockdown. Even a leisurely evening stroll through the park cannot hide the issue of lockdown. On the billboards, on the buses, inside trains and planes, the issue of lockdown is all too evident for all to see.

The first wave has hardly elapsed and another wave is already waiting on the side lines. Some people just about managed to navigate the first wave and yet they are faced with the possibility of going through it all over again.

This time though the prognosis is deemed to be more lethal than the first. Why is this? Is it because in some parts of the globe it will shortly be winter? Who knows how these issues are calculated? The irony is no one knows. These are unprecedented times in which we are living in, and every decision made by those in authority is seemingly met with disapproval.

The fact remains though, Covid-19 is real. Remarkably, It seems that in the twinkle of an eye, everyone has suddenly become a surgeon. Masks are everywhere and they range from the simple to the ridiculously outrageous. The pandemic continues to do more damage to humanity than all the world wars combined. So how do we overcome the issue of the lockdown imposed on all of us?

Come to think of it, we have all become prisoners in our own homes. No one is exempt. Just when you think it’s safe to resume back to normality, the infection rate rises above the desired level, and just when you think you can book that long well deserved holiday again, reality sets in. The heart of the matter is that Covid-19 is an invisible enemy that needs to be put in its place, vaccine or no vaccine, period!

It is hard to believe that only a few months back the entire Globe was awash with one unique activity or the other. At the airports there were queues upon queues of bubbly passengers ready to jet off on holiday to numerous destinations. At theme parks and beaches marshals had difficulty in controlling the masses that had arrived to have a great time. You could not even secure a parking space at some venues and many of the roads that led to other places of interest were simply gridlocked.

Today though it is a different story, if you travel down to any of the major airports of the world, you would find out exactly what I am talking about.

I happen to work for an airline that employs over 40,000 employees. By the time the pandemic hit, over 10,000 of these employees had been systematically shown the door. Thankfully, I am one of the fortunate ones. Fortunate in the sense that I still have a job I can go to daily. I may have had to have taken a substantial enforced pay cut to help keep the airline afloat, but I am just glad to have the opportunity to do what I love doing best.

For the majority of the employees whom the airline has retained, this is food for thought. Many have found themselves on the brink of losing their prized properties such as homes, and cars, or even worse. For some though, it has been simply too much, and it has resulted in them taking their own lives on the very premises where they once worked with pride.

I personally have witnessed the devastation this pandemic can cause within a company, because I have lost a lot of colleagues and so on. This hasn’t dampened me though, it has only served as fuel to spur me on to try to enlighten others such as yourself, to negate all the barricades and to come out the other side of the tunnel better equipped, to look ahead to a brighter future.

I must admit though, that there was a point during the first segment of the lockdown when I was stuck at home on furlough when I found it tough to eat, concentrate, or even take regular exercise. I found myself losing a bit of weight and looking fatigued, and pale at some stage. Thankfully, I summoned up courage to forge ahead. Then it hit me! The very aspects of life people count as irrelevant, are the most important. Consider the following points below.

Be Strong

Similarly, on your part there are a number of steps you need to take to make sure you do not fall foul of the exact situation I found myself in back then. So, if you want to survive in hard times such as these, you must first understand that you need to stand firm and not be shaken by any situation or circumstance. You will obviously have to cut a few regular expenses along the way at some point, and in some cases you may have to work a bit much more hard, or for lower pay than you would probably have during times when things were much better.

Personal Health

Next, consider the issue of your personal health. I know you did not decide to read this article to be lectured on eating right and getting your vitamins, but this is something that must be definitely addressed. The reason for this being that proper health food and exercise tend to be the first aspects people tend to bypass, whilst trying to make ends meet during a recession. This should not be the case. We are not just talking about living a longer life, but living a more fulfilling one. People tend to forget that personal health is one of the chief factors in determining the mood and energy levels.

You have to understand that, all the coffee in the world will not keep you awake and aware, as making sure you drink enough water, get enough sleep, eat well, and go for a walk once or twice a day. Now, I will not even attempt to give you a full fitness plan or anything like it. Rather, I will simply try to keep it down to simple, easy-to-use advice.

What you do not want to be doing is relying on drive-thru for your daily three square meals. Instead, take time to awake early and prepare yourself a good breakfast, fix yourself lunch, and when you return from work or an outing, prepare yourself a full dinner. The convenience of the drive-thru is that you can either spend three pounds and get a burger, fries and a soft drink, all readymade for you. Really tempting I know, I have been there myself. If you are a junk food junkie, then you already know that it’s just not worth for how it taxes your mood and your health.

Regarding exercise, you don’t have to be a fitness expert or something, most people know their own limits best, but nobody’s limit is “none at all”. As long as you have a working pair of legs, there’s never an excuse not to take a nice long walk on your lunch break, and another after work. It may seem as if it is an off topic, but there’s no point in thriving when it comes to your finances unless you’re also of healthy body and mind.

Mindset

It is also important to have a mindset of steel. Now having a mindset of steel is not just something anyone can achieve easily, this is because everyone is different, and as they say, our fingers are not all equal. For instance, when the Government announces a lockdown phase in a set region or the Nation as a whole, many people simply go into ‘hibernation mode.’ However, this phase should not signify that it is time for the body to shut down for anxiety and depression to set in.

No far from it! On the contrary, that is the time we all need to prepare ourselves mentally, because this virus has proven it has the power to destabilise the entire universe, and it will continue to do so until we all collectively take action.

Now we can further ease the effects of lockdown through another set of simple measures such as these.

Do not panic buy.

During the first wave, many people went into panic mode and hit the supermarkets virtually at the same time. This resulted in a severe shortage of essential commodities. By the time rationing was introduced, the horse had already bolted out the barn. Some people were left without, whilst some greedy ones had more than enough to last them an entire season.

This should not repeat itself the next time there is a lockdown. The best way to overcome this issue is to shop sensibly at varying intervals preferably during periods when you know the shops will not be busy. Dependent on the area you reside, this could be very early in the morning when the shops have just opened, or late at night, shortly before the shops are due to close.

Personal Life

This might seem like an off topic, but one of the most important parts of life is taking time out with loved ones. Although it is understandable you might not feel like it a times. However, essentially, it’s crucial you do so. If you are a parent, don’t let the extra pressures life throws at you derail your task of sustaining your relationship with your children. I cannot stress this enough, because many children haven’t a care in the world for many of these issues going on right now.

All they want to do is eat, sleep and be merry. You must not let whatever you are going through stop you from fulfilling your civic duties to your children. When you take time out to be with them, they will certainly do things that would make you take your mind off any pressures you are faced with. This of course has a domino effect in the sense that your stress and anxiety levels will decrease or be eliminated all together.

The bottom line here is, we should all endeavour to take good care of ourselves and also look out too for others, remember we are all in this together. Do not leave all the caring to the Medical professionals and carers alone. Contribute your quota. If you haven't seen your neighbour, friend or family member for a while or haven't heard from them, give them a call or pay them a visit. You never know, you just might be a life saver.

Overall, please follow the Government guidance in your region. If we all do, in due course together we shall beat this invisible menace. United we stand, divided we fall.

Article by Festus Kayode.