Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely
I have nobody for my own
Oh, I'm so lonely
I'm Mr. Lonely
I have nobody for my own
Oh, I'm so lonely....
(Lyrics from Akon's song Lonely)
There are songs devoted to loneliness in plenty and all these songs present a gloomy picture than a happier one.
While we know that loneliness is one of the conditions which might be temporary for some while permanent for others, we brood a lot onto this condition and make things worse for our own selves. 2020 has devastated or has been onto a renovation mode for mother nature. For us, it is hell time!
Let us try and understand what we can do in this tough times to avoid this lonenliness and emerge as a family person and a strong individual.
1. Strong Will power: Until and unless you develop a stronger will,you will remain a weak person. It does not matter as to how many hours of gym you hit, it does not matter how financially strong you are or for that matter what weapon you possess. If you fail to be strong by your will, you fail to stand any war that wages from within you or from the surroundings. CoVID or recession, one must understand that these situations are temporary and wont last long. Tough people will. So, if you have a stronger belief system within you, if you have a stronger defense mechanism within you to ward of every negative vibe that infiltrates your beautiful mind, am sure, you win more than a half of the battle. If not, you will live a defeated life. That however, is not the purpose of your existence. Neither is killing oneself. It is the fight which decides your ability and fight you must to ward of negative vibes. Utter positive words to your self everyday, practice yoga, read good books including The Gita irrespective of the religion you belong to (I consider it as a reference material which helps as a guiding light than a religious Hindu scripture).
2. Family support: During turbulent times, staying alone kills a person virtually. So ensure that you stay closer to those who love you and understand that your value is more than what your boss can measure or rank you. Corporate ranking matter the least. They wont give you the pleasure of being a family person or for that matter a good, crazy friend. Avoid letting ego intervene in the bond that exists between you and your loved ones. Yes you have grown up-it does not matter.It does not even matter that you, who must be the financial support pillar, is crumbling and is looking for help and support. Take support. It is necessary. There will always be days when you can pay back in cash or in kind. God willl always give you a chance until you decide to change your thoughts. Remember that your parents, family and friends are always a treasure to fall back upon whenever time challenges you with conditions you expect the least.
3.Talent works wonders: There are many of us who feel they are made for their dream job. The moment they get one, they feel they have achieved everything. The moment they lose it, the world crumbles and so do they and they end themselves- mentally or physically. Is that all???
Is that all we invest our time and money for? Cant we, on the basis of our abilities find another best option and succeed or create history? Why do we start feeling as if the company or for that matter any firm we work for and not own, is our own and if we get a pink slip, its an end of the career???
Crazy that we are, we forget very often the abilities we possess and spoil our own lives for the sake of it.
If not one job, then the other. If you believe in your abilities, you wont worry about what and where to start from if at all the doors of an organization get shut. Your abilities must get a few more doors open. If they dont, dont worry. Create your own and startle your boss who felt that you were incapable.
4. BE FLEXIBLE: Taking forward point 3, I have a simple suggestion. Keep your options open from day1 of your job. While consistency matters a lot and reflects your ability to stick to a company for long term in your resume,having options at hand and in your mind will help you to jump and move ahead without setbacks if there be any in future. An option does not mean a job opportunity only. It does not mean that you start attending interviews every other day. No!
What it means is that one must introspect and indentify the strong points of one self and start working on them in silence. For example, your writing skills, your ability to speak and impress, your dancing skills, your sharp mathematical abilites, your ability to solve toughest of the reasoning problems, your ability to argue and win with proper stats... there are many. Who knows when these skills and additional traits will come handy. Keep sharpening these knives. These are the same time pass activities which you used to rely upon as a kid and have now shoved them into the bin assuming them to be redundant. I for example, started off my career as a manager in a mutual funds company and loved my work but then, recession threw me off the saddle and I remained unemployed for a couple of months. It was during these days that I focused on my best skill (Teaching and training) at hand and developed it and have never looked back since then. Of late, I have recognized my story writing skills and published one book as well, started my own You Tube channel and engage my time reading books, discussing ideas, uploading my views on YT channel and much more during these days of lockdown,felt less depressed and more energized (got a lot of me time which was otherwise impossible!)
Take care of your health, experiment ideas (be a chef, sing, dance...) and be sure to remain engaged as much as possible. Remember this poem:
When darkness falls and fiends amass
You must recall
“This too shall pass”
When hope seems lost and not to last
You must repeat
“This too shall pass”
As fires rage searing sand to glass
You must remember
“This too shall pass”
In fear and doubt, whether near or past
You must recite
“This too shall pass”
