You are your own limit.
Suddenly, each one of us found ourselves confined in lockdown. Our suffocating full days with obligations turned into days with plenty of time for…doing nothing. For some of us the shock of the new “lockdown” way of living lasted way longer, for some others it was just a matter of days to take the reins of the new way of living and take advantage of it. Actually, this Lockdown has taught me a lot…. It has made me think, evaluate and act differently.
1 - I am my own limit
Lockdown made me ask myself; what do you really want to do? What do you like? What have you postponed for so long because you “have never had time”? Because now you do, the only thing you have is the time! So, during the lockdown and up to today, I found myself working out six times a week. I caught myself watching YouTube videos about different types of exercises, trying them out and finding out what suits me best. I turned my living room into a gym room, and I was and still am committed to a weekly workout schedule. Doing so I realized that all this time, it was myself that was stopping me to do that under the excuse of ‘I am so tired and/or I don’t have enough time for this’.
2 - More self-care
The exercising routine led me to learn more about self-care. I evaluated my everyday way of living and I found out that I wasn’t aware of all the states of wellbeing. I read* a lot about how to find a balance between your physical and mental health. How to take care of your mind, how to put your thoughts into order, and how to avoid or handle the stress in your life. Lockdown made me realize that our mental health is equally important as our physical health.
3 - The value of communication
This new living reality made me become conscious of the value of communication. I recognized how important it is to communicate with your parents, siblings, and friends. How much strength and courage a simple phone call can give. Lockdown restrictions may have put us apart, but a simple ‘hello’, ‘how are you’ can bring us closer than ever.
4 - A new routine
During the lockdown, I chose not to waste the extra free time I had, but to keep pushing myself to learn. I received many emails related to online courses and seminars from different organizations+ that due to this difficult circumstanced had been released for free. All you needed was your laptop, an internet connection and…time. I had all of these (as many of us), so I created a new working routine even from home, which was interesting, educational, useful, meaningful.
5 - We are our own power!
But what lockdown really taught me is that what is stopping us to evolve, to become better, to become stronger, and to fulfill our dreams and needs are not the resources or money or even time. What is stopping us is ourselves! We are our own limit and we are our own power!
*Books: The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management by Dr Steve Peters ; The Skills by Mishal Husain
+ Free courses: Coursera, The Open University
With thanks - this post was written by Stella Manoli.