1. Mental health
Crazy, Mad, Wierdo!! These words generally have a
negative connotation attached to them and therefore, none of us want to be that
in our “sane” minds. It is one taboo topic that none of us want to discuss but
we definitely need to discuss. We all are going through something that is
bothering us, or maybe something is making us sad or we might be feeling low,
questioning our choices, sometimes crying sometimes just hanging on. But we are
so scared to share it, maybe it’s the fear of being labelled “mental or
unstable”. What is it with us, as a society or as an individual? Why are we so
in a hate relationship with anything related to mental health? There is also this
issue that the only synonym for mental illness is the person is now nuts, now
this person will become dysfunctional, or not normal now, or severely ill now.
It is this precise misdiagnose or bad nomenclature or misunderstanding that we
all are afraid to seek advice or help or even share our feelings for any mental
issue, and it could be anything, feeling continuously low, feeling demotivated,
or depressed. Its on not to be Ok!! Nothing is broken to such extent that it
cannot be rebuilt. We all have highs and lows in our lives, financial crunches,
relationship blows, job layouts, it is soooo normal. Some lows pass off, some
stick on. And if something is sticking on too long, can’t sleep well, feeling
demotivated since a long time, losing or gaining abnormal weight or other
health issues then maybe the underlying cause could be related to our mental
health. We go to a doctor for persistent pain, or fever or other abnormalities
that we see in our physical health then why and how is mental health something
that we should not care for or seek professional help if need be. If we are
told right from the beginning that it fine to get help, it happens with a lot
of us then this whole tabooness will also go away. Physical and mental health,
both are equally important and we should be reminded and taught and told of it
always to such an extent that it gets normalized.
2. Time management
24 hours in a day, then they say sleep for minimum 6-8
hours, then eat slowly chewing the food, exercise, maintain hygiene, mediate,
pursue a hobby, study and or work. Alright! Now comes the real point when and
how to do what? Well, that’s what I am talking about, managing time. And it
doesn’t end here by the way. I have two tasks pending and the deadlines for
both are around the corner, which one to do first, or how to do both together,
or how to prioritize? Have a presentation, or an exam and so much to finish how
to divide the time? This is what should be another mandatory soft skill/subject
that we all should be taught. Ways and styles of time management for optimum
benefits. We are looking for books on
effective habits, steps that save time, or how to get results in 7 days,
what could be the reason for it. Because we are still figuring out how to
allocate the time to various tasks that we have to do. We look for shortcuts,
we crash under deadline pressure, we don’t know where and how to draw the line.
24 hours could be a lot of time or 24 hours could be a lot less of time,
depending on how we are managing it. If we know how and what to prioritize, and
then allocate how much time to what or we can sneak in and out our tasks by
making other related tasks flexible, won’t it be so easy and smooth? Rather
than finding out or learning time management forcibly, why not include it in
our lives right from the beginning of our school learning!
3. Finance
Management and Understanding
The F (Finance) word, or the M (Money) word! How many
of us still struggle in filing taxes? How many of us still don’t know what is a
stock or share or mutual funds or fixed deposit or cryptocurrency for that
matter? Or the famous line “mutual funds are subject to market risks”, well ok
I get it but I don’t get it. Frankly, I
still am trying to learn about stocks and shares and still iffy about investing
in one. For a really long time, I could not understand what taxes were, why did
people pay taxes, why was the percentage different for different products or
services. And whenever I heard, today the Sensex went up or today the sensex
crashed, I had no clue what this roller coaster was. A basic functional
knowledge of such necessary financial terms and regulations should be mandatory
for all of us. Yes we all will chose different professional fields and will be
trained accordingly but also we will getting or handling salaries, paying
taxes, buying insurance, filing tax returns, will be saving and investing money
to gain returns. But if we don’t even have the basic knowledge of what a
financial instrument is, it will be impossible to make an aware choice which
will be prone to more uncalculated risks. Understanding related to money and
investment and expenditure is compulsory for all of us, this one thing “Money”
is everywhere around us and we depend on it at various levels so of course we
need to know it and understand it.
4. Self-love
Just thinking about oneself is selfish! Well, we must
all have heard this thing that you can’t just be thinking about yourself. But,
my question is, if I myself does not think about me, then how do I expect
others to the same for me? And then, there is a very famous saying, “charity
begins at home”, so begin it at your home, with yourself. If I am battling with
unhappiness, I am dissatisfied how on earth will I genuinely make others happy?
And what strange idea of happiness is it? Then there is this glorified term,
‘sacrifice’, ‘we sacrifice for our loved ones’, right? Even if our own life is
at stake, sacrifice human, sacrifice! It gets so complicated then, we sacrifice
for others, others sacrifice for us, fine all well if this is smooth and
happening with the same ratios and proportions but what if I sacrificed for
someone and that someone else chose not to do the same for me? Will that not be
unfair? But, yes then people say don’t expect anything from others,
expectations are the source of pain. Now, isn’t it confusing? Loving oneself is
so so important, if I am happy, filled with love I will be so much more
forthcoming, and kinder and accepting else I would be cranky, complaining and
down. Love thyself, another mandatory concept to be taught and learnt!!
5. Act of kindness
Being Kind, being humble! There is person, kind and
sweet and there is a person shrewd and cunning, who do we like? Of course the
kind one! But who is even misused a lot of times, once again, of course the
Kind One! Now you understand why everyone is ready to cut each other’s throat!
Everyone wants to be at the receiving end of kindness and not vice versa.
Kindness does not have to be larger than life, it can be in small things, small
gestures also. Just being warm and affectionate is also kindness, just being
accepting as also kindness, just giving space to someone who needs it is also
kindness, just smiling or greeting back someone is also kindness. Being kind to
animals, if one cannot love love animals then at least not harming them, respecting
nature, being considerate of the environment, giving back to the society,
having empathy. I mean, I know I may be sounding like I am giving a sermon on
this topic but somewhere down the line we all know that this is required,
definitely required. And if we want to get it then we have to do it also. So
why not include it in our curriculum and make it an important aspect of our
personality right from the start.
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