7 Incredible life-lessons I learned during lockdown

Life lessons from lockdown? Wait, I know you would be frustrated during this time, and trust me, you’re not alone feeling this.

These whole past two, three months seems so surreal to me!! And I guess, I’m the only one feeling this.

Who would have expected the sudden pandemic outbreak and getting locked within the boundaries of our house? This whole scenario seemed like a gaming zone wherein the end, the one who stays in, win.

It was like the worst nightmare and I really felt someone actually telling me to get up from the deep sleep and start my ‘normal’ routine. I know when you say your plans flopped or you had some huge events waiting for you but this lockdown spoiled all our plans.

Everything happened so suddenly, in a blink of an eye that we actually failed to understand how to cope up with the entirely new situation.

We had bad mental health days, sleepless nights, anxiety, and whatnot. Thankfully, the lockdown has been lifted now and we can actually go out ( with necessary precautions)

However, as we look back to those days when we were stuck at home, working from home, handling kids, and trying to be sane, this lockdown taught us some valuable life lessons. I personally felt like summarizing my experience and writing down the lessons I learned during this lockdown.

Though we haven’t really gone back to the normal life, there’s always something that life teaches us in its own odd ways.

Life-lessons learned during the lockdown

In India, we had around three months of total lockdown and now when everything is getting back to new normal, I’m reminiscing the period of my life that left so much to learn and grow.

1. Live in now

This is so far the biggest lesson learned during the lockdown period. How naive of us to forget the preciousness of the moment !!

Have you ever thought of living the same moment twice but failed to? We are all so busy dwelling in our pasts and planing about our future that we actually fail to embrace the present moment.

This lockdown period taught me that the past is gone, we cannot change it and the future lay uncertain right in front of our eyes, this very moment is all that we have.

There is joy and peace in being mindfully aware of the moment, of the things happening within us.

I learned to enjoy this very moment and to live it so fully that I never long when it’s gone. We are here, in this moment so full of all the joy and calm. Let’s enjoy every bit of it before it becomes the thing of the past.

Here’s something you would love to read: How to live in now and embrace the present.

2. Enjoy little things

Many times, we wait for something huge to happen, a major break-through to celebrate. Instead, during this lockdown, we celebrated every single moment gifted, we learned how precious our lives are and how truly blessed we are to be alive.

Life gifts us so many such miracle moments that we fail to recognize and it slips through us just like the sand from the fist. Let’s all remember this beautiful lesson learned during lockdown to enjoy even the tiniest moments of our lives.

We really don’t need any reason to celebrate. Every day is a festival if your heart is full of joy and peace.

I loved learning to cook some delicious dishes, family gaming time, family workouts, eating together and those fulfilled night outs ( actually night-ins)

These are the but the little things where we are truly alive.

3. Be grateful

Being thankful never goes out of style.

These two-three months of span made me really how truly blessed I was. There were people out there without homes, no clothing, or even had earth of food. Amidst this mess, I recalled my blessings and felt so grounded even in dark hours.

As a human, it’s normal for us to take things for granted until life hits us hard enough to know its worth. We are all so super blessed to be living, breathing, and surviving this whole situation.

There may be numerous lessons learned during lockdown but I truly believe that this is something we all would have experienced. I made it a rule to practice journaling and write down three things I was grateful for. This exercise ignited the feeling of thankfulness towards everyone who had been there with me.

I highly recommend picking up your favorite journal and start this beautiful art of journaling. It literally saved me during my toughest and hardest times.

Here’s my free journaling course.

4. Slow down/ rest

During this lockdown, life suddenly took a new shift and it was no more a race. People eventually were stressing more on being productive initially but the concept of rest was so much more highlighted. We were all facing a super difficult time and some days it was enough that we survived.

I felt like slowing down and taking rest from the routine hustle. This may not have been possible for many but I highly recommend taking rest as much as you need. We have confused laziness with rest because of which we often feel guilty when we take rest.

Who on this earth will handle my business if I just take a day off or rest? I can totally get you but how about thinking it in this way.

You are the vessel for your business and if you really want to make your biz workout, you need to show up with complete alignment and energy. Will this be possible without taking rest or slowing down?

Taking rest won’t make you a failure and we all need that at times. This lesson learned during lockdown shall remain with me as we proceed to live the new normal.

5. It’s okay to not be okay

We aren’t always in our high spirits or joyful. Being a human, we do feel many emotions and every day isn’t the same. There are some terrible nights when we don’t get sleep and are lost in our own thoughts.

And this is what being human actually means. It is all okay to admit that you’re not okay and things are not going well. Instead of stuffing all those emotions within, let them flow out.

Give yourself permission to accept that things may not be going as per your plan but there are better days ahead of you, there always is the shine. Do not be so hard on yourself, it’s okay to not be okay.

6. Find your joy

This lockdown taught me nothing is certain so why waste time in doing things you don’t love. My darling, we get this ONE, single life to be and do whatever we wish to. We all carry this unique gift inside us, do you really wish to leave earth without fulfilling your purpose!!

This thought always used to haunt me and the lockdown period made me realize that finding my joy and doing the things I love isn’t selfish. I can create the space for my work, for my passions and dream.

And this is when I started with this blog. I find supreme joy writing these words, helping you heal through them and I will make sure that I keep doing this.

Go and find your joy, the joy that fills your heart with a kid-like smile and makes you jump with happiness.

Your joy is where your HOME is. For me, it’s writing and I will make sure to find my way back to my home whenever I get lost. 

7. You’re not alone

This period taught me that my emotions were valid and that I was so not alone. When we see Instaworthy pictures, perfect life in those squares, we freak out and start comparing ourselves with their luxurious lives. This makes us feel so insecure and terrible.

However, these three months I really felt that we were all suffering through mental breakdown, anxiety, that we were all so frustrated and stressed.

This made me feel less lonely and helped me deal with those feelings better. The life-lessons learned during lockdown could be terribly hard, but this was something I needed to remind myself. We were all together in this and we still are. I loved the community connection and how everyone was there for each other.

Life-lessons learned during lockdown – the bottom line

Sometimes, hard life-lessons are necessary to make us realize what we have been always avoiding.

I know, life won’t be the same and things are going to keep on changing but these lessons will always stay with me, with us. We have become a better human, a kind soul.

If this period has been rough for you, I’m sending love all your way. Always remember, you’re stronger than everything that’s making you anxious and weak. May you gift yourself some grace and live the life you love.

What did this lockdown period teach you?

I would love to know your views in the comments.