Do you often feel restless, uncertain, anxious, lonely, pessimistic or betrayed?

Trust me…you are one amongst the many youths who are experiencing similar feelings. Virtual education, work from home, postponing of exams, cancelling of entrance tests, it seems that youth today are being subjected to one test after the other.

So how is the youth responding to this?

The answer is not fuzzy at all. The survey ‘Youth and COVID-19’ conducted by International Labor Organization captures the immediate effects of the pandemic on the lives of youths (aged 18 to 29 years). Over 12,000 responses were received from 112 countries, with a large proportion coming from educated youths with access to the Internet. Some of the key findings are as follows:

 

• Youth today is worried about Jobs and mental well being
• 38% young people are uncertain about their future career
• 27% young people are having anxiety
• 15% young people feel they are depressed
• 43% young women (compare to 31% men) feel pessimistic about future.
• 1 in 2 feel less motivated to do activities they normally do.
• 3 out 4 have felt need to ask for help.

 

What is worth noting is how less motivated youth today is feeling to even perform the normal day to day activities in their schedule. Whether it is about getting up on time or taking bath on time or even eating meals on time, there seems to be a clear impact on how we were leading our normal lives before the pandemic.

In these unprecedented times, the important question we have in front of us is how we can stay at peace with ourselves. Happiness and bliss look more like a mirage. Since the problem we are facing today is unconventional in nature, it’s time to go back to the fundamentals and take charge of our lives.

If we look around, we will be able to identify friends / colleagues who have dealt with this situation effectively. Some good practices which have helped them sail through this include

• Creating and following a schedule
• Taking out time for hobbies
• Meditating
• Exercising
• Eating right
• Not spending too much time talking or listening about threat posed by the pandemic and impact of Covid

It is interesting to see the trends around how many people are searching for a good meditation source. Undoubtedly this is a search in the right direction. Meditation helps us to not just create a powerful state of mind for ourselves but also support others to deal with this pandemic effectively. As a practitioner of Raja Yoga meditation, I have personally experienced the benefits of increased focus, energy, positivity and better relationship with others. I have also seen far more success in my career ever since I have become a student. I now better understand answers to some fundamental questions such as who I am, what is mine and what is my purpose.

A better understanding of these would certainly help youth in calming their nerves and looking at the bigger picture. So, it is time, youth start thinking from first principle and move beyond what their peers are doing to bring some control in their lives.