Pandemic Restrictions: Concept of Actual Freedom

We are going through restrictions during this pandemic. It’s human psychology – whenever you are in a prison, hospital, quarantined in a room there’s an urge to go out and there is a nostalgia of old times when you were free to go anywhere, do anything, whatever wherever you want to. It’s quite natural. But it’s just physical restriction; you can be mentally free as much as you can. Let’s know about how to deal with pandemic restrictions.

How free we are actually? 

There are two worlds in reality

The outside world

The inside world

And the important one is the inside world. Specifically in the pandemic restrictions. Let’s know why?

Physical you see things, do things, feel things but it’s your mind that processes them and makes you feel and act accordingly. Regardless of what’s happening in the outside world, it’s your mind which makes you feel in a certain way. This is the mind that can make us feel whether we’re enjoying the time and situation or not.

How can we feel freedom while physically trapped in pandemic restrictions?

You see, what I mentioned above the two worlds and the role of your mind in your thought process.

For example

There is a different kind of people and different mindset exists in the world. Some people like being alone and some people enjoy being surrounded by people.

We usually categories them with terms like introvert and extrovert.

Introverts are the people who enjoy their own time and they usually like to be alone. It’s their mindset. It doesn’t depend on the external environment. They are happier and feel free when they’re being with themselves.

Extroverts are the people who don’t like loneliness, they always want to gather, and they want people around them. They feel free when they’re with people.

But there’s also a situation where sometimes we are surrounded by people and still we feel restricted and trapped.

So you see everything is in the mind. It doesn’t depend upon external factors. It’s just a different mind that can perceive exact situations in different ways.

Which is acceptable to one person can be intolerable to another person. Same in the case of pandemic restrictions. How you perceive the situation makes you think and behave like a certain way.

What I personally feel is our existence is chained to some things that we cannot control.

How we can feel free during pandemic restrictions.

There’s a theory called “Determinism”.  This is a very vast topic but in short, it says that everything is pre-planned. Whatever is happening already planned for us.

If we just remember this. This makes us feel freer. Even in the time of such a pandemic.

This is happening but this must be happening for a reason. And this is a situation where we cannot do anything about this.

So why resist? What is the result of resistance?

If we resist more, we will feel more trapped. We will feel more trapped during these pandemic restrictions.

Can’t we just enjoy the present moment?

Everyone is struggling during this pandemic. Nobody is an exceptional case. Everyone is going through the same.

As we are locked, it’s just physical. We can stop whatever is going on but we can use it as an opportunity. We can examine our thoughts; we can examine the importance of life, the importance of the present moment. Freedom during this pandemic restriction doesn’t lie outside, it lies within.

If we are alive we at least have a choice to examine our life. We have the right to analyze how we can experience freedom in certain situations and circumstances. Do not let external forces power over us. Let’s face it together.