6 huge lessons in life a tiny virus is teaching us
When I stepped into this year, I had no clue what awaited me. I began 2020 with enormous enthusiasm to work on my unfulfilled goals, to set new standards of success for myself, to polish my life even shinier. Just two months went by and bam! Everything changed!!
One tiny virus, one mini mutation that occurred somewhere in the remote, dark, dingy place in one corner of the world spread all over like wildfire, killing people, confining people and rendering them helpless!
Today I am not writing to lament our destituteness…
I am not writing to applaud or criticize the government’s ways of dealing with this crisis…
I am not writing to update you on the loss of lives, the sufferings of the underprivileged …
I am not writing to inform you of anything that the news channels are already talking about…
Today, I am writing to highlight the important lessons that I believe, this speck of an organism has come to teach us.
1. From Robotic to Conscious state-
Remember the kind of lifestyle you had a few weeks ago? Waking up to alarms, rushing to get ready, “grabbing” breakfast on the way, mingling with a sea of people all trying to do something? Coming back home tired, wishing for a vacation, complaining about the boss, the society, the life in general. What was our identity?
Another head in the pools of heads at the subway station?
Another honk of the car in the sea of cars on the streets?
And many of us wished to get a break but were unable to take one because we never thought it was possible!
We were slaves to our routines without giving a conscious thought that we could live more mindfully and take more control over our lives. We were going about life robotically. And this lockdown of our cities and countries has snapped us out of the autopilot lifestyle that we were living. It has jolted us into realizing the possibilities.
2.From Lavish to Minimalist-
This lockdown to protect us from the virus has also taught us to live a contained lifestyle. It has taught us to practice minimalism.
We accumulate, hoard and binge on things even though we do not need it. It has forced us to sort our NEEDS, WANTS, DESIRES.
With limited time to shop for basic necessities, it forced us to plan meals and consume stuff accordingly. We read about planning and using resources judiciously, but did we ever implement much? Not until now!
3.From taking things for granted to enforcing gratitude
With unplanned living and our tendency of not noticing the tiny blessings of life, I guess we did need this kick on our backsides to shake us into thinking how we took things for granted.
- The ease of booking a cab and traveling to any corner of the city.
- The comfort of ordering a meal from our favorite restaurants.
- The fun of dropping kids to school and driving them to amusement parks.
- To plan a hang out with friends by the evening.
- Having domestic help for the chores.
Depending on where we live, we all have convenience and comforts that we unthinkably adapted into our lives. Never for a second, we stopped to think we were upgrading lives without thinking whether we needed it or not.
4.From Family that stayed together to a family that works together
I am a freelancer and have two school-going children and a husband working in the IT sector. Life for me was pretty much run by the urban household clock — ringing alarms, lunch boxes, school bus, PTMs, exams, team meetings, client calls, weekend outings, catching up with friends at coffee houses. Wash, rinse, repeat — that sort of life! I am sure many of you can relate.
Today we all are home and discovered many things we can do together without stepping out. We taught our kids all sorts of card games we knew. I taught them photo editing. They helped around with chores. We watched movies, cooked and ate together.No one hurrying anyone. No rush to miss anything. No stress to please a boss, a teacher or a client!
I share my home office with my husband and in return, I get tea and snacks on my desk :)
5.From a half-hearted belief to hard-hitting realization
I believe in the law of attraction. I am not religious, I seek truth -what is our role on this planet? I believe nothing is more powerful than the universe. We, humans, have made unimaginable progress, yet are minuscule, powerless creatures in the greater scheme of things. Despite our utmost confidence in our progress, our invincibility in terms of having control over our world, here we stand today- struggling to contain a life-threatening microbe. Nature asserted its power. The universe reminded us that we are “the lesser mortals” after all.
6.From unintentional mumbles to conscious prayers
Have you come across the saying — “be careful what you wish for”?
Well, it is pretty much manifesting itself right now —
All collective wishes answered.
The kids wishing for no school!
The office -goers wishing for a break from 9 to 5.
The family wishing for more savings this financial year.
Someone wishing for a break to learn a new skill to expand income.
I mean this can be a mighty long list if you begin interviewing people around you!
It is a time that has brought the whole world to a crisis that no one ever imagined. And this is going to change many things forever.
As for us, the humans, the ones who sort of brought it on to ourselves, it is a time to retrospect. This time of confinement is the time to ponder, pledge, promise to live a more mindful life. To learn, to grow and remain humble.
