Too much is being said about the coronavirus these days. The information overload was so much that I decided to shut off from all the news for a while. I resisted thinking about how I could write something about this contextual and relevant topic too. But here I am!

I missed my regular weekly post yesterday because I did not have anything planned and I was not feeling well. That happened for a reason because today morning (maybe in the wee hours before I really become awake), this thought came to me.

A lot of people are frustrated with the worldwide situation. It has turned the way we do things normally. Some of the things I have heard include the following and appear under various categories:

CRIBBING

• It is so tough staying at home all the time.
• With no house-help, I am now having to do all extra work by myself.
• I do not think I can take my partner/husband/wife being at home all the time.
• So much proximity is only making us pull our hair and get to each other’s throats.

FEAR

• What if there is food scarcity?
• There are not enough hospital beds in the country for this kind of epidemic.
• The pharma companies have just not been able to come up with a vaccine.
• The coronavirus is mutating and developing different strains – this will never end.
• Coronavirus is faster than humans – new strains will come out faster than we can create vaccines.
• What if I get coronavirus?

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

• I am having to cancel my vacation.
• I am going mad sitting at home, doing nothing!
• I do not like missing my gym, exercise, Pilates, swimming – I am going to put on so much weight.
• Nothing is going to happen to me and I can continue my life in the same way – to hell with the world!

FINANCIAL

• Oh God! The markets are crashing – I am going to lose all my money.
• What can I do to make sure that I ensure the safety of my investments?
• My business is suffering and I cannot let that happen.
• Should I have invested in gold instead?
• Can I still make money out of this situation?

All the above are valid thoughts and concerns that can arise from the situation that each one of us is in. Almost all countries are in lockdown and there is a call to stay at home unless there is an emergency or absolutely necessary to move out.

What I want to concentrate on, however, is whether we can look at this situation from a different perspective. Here are some of the lessons that I seem to take away from this situation.

Lesson 1 – We Do Not Have All The Control – But We Do have Some!

As humans and the only species on Earth that has a cognitive mind capable of imagination and creativity, we tend to feel that we have a lot of control (if not all the control). Our arrogance about this is obvious from what we have done to the Earth and the manner in which we have chosen to move forward. Every decision that has been made has had unexpected consequences that we could not have envisaged (aka video games, social media, smart phones, smaller families, female activism and more).

The point is not to take away the advantages and the positive outcomes of these decisions but to re-think the manner in which we, as a species, make decisions.

A large number of studies have proven that traits like empathy, compassion, and co-operation have contributed to the evolution of the species. These traits have also been seen among our closest primates. However, with our cognitive brains, we tend to ignore these aspects, ever too often.

We cannot control the way in which the world will move. Despite how it may seem to you, we have never been in control of that ever. There is only ONE thing that we DO have control over and that is our feelings, beliefs, and actions. It is time now to think of the kind of beliefs we want to choose and what we want to base our actions on? What appeals to us more – competition or compassion, conflict or cooperation, racism or humanity, me or we (and I include all living things and not just homo sapiens).

Lesson 2 – We Have a LOT To Be Thankful For

We may choose to complain about the lockdown and the limited amount of activities that we are allowed to do because of this pandemic. But we can choose to also take a look around us and see all the things we have.

I once had a client make a list of his ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. I asked him to take enough time to think about all the things that he can think of and that he should not leave out even the small things that may seem silly to him. The first draft that came in made me wonder about all the things that we take for granted. Among the ‘haves’, there was no mention of the food they had, his healthy parents, his loving family, or even his stable job. The ‘have-not’ list was practically endless and he had run out of space on the standard sized paper with mentions of lack of vacation time and a whole list of things that he wanted to buy or do.

For all of us who are safe, healthy and alive, this is a time to really count our blessings and understand that we are lucky to have all that we do – a family, food on the table, clothes to wear, a home to sleep in, warmth (or air-conditioning), and some semblance of security that these will not vanish all of a sudden tomorrow.

Since this is a great time, I would suggest for all of you to actually make that gratitude list and keep it somewhere you can see.

Lesson 3 – The Universe Is Asking Us To Relax a Bit – Take a ‘Chill Pill’

Stress, worry, burnout, and panic are buzzwords that we hear in the corporate world every day. These are not uncommon outside of the corporate world too. The stress that a housewife feels when she is expected to be a perfect host to ‘important’ guests is no less than the stress of a deadline or an important meeting with the CEO. After all, it is the subjective stress that is the problem and not the situation!

Take the coronavirus led lockdown as a time to take it slow. Choose to spend travel time for work to do some things that you would have if you had more time. Don’t let the travel time get all consumed up in extra meetings, prep work or other work-related stuff or else the work will always increase to take up more time. Choose to sleep in for a few days or get up at the normal time and start meditation. How about starting that online course you came across but could never start?

Don’t let the extra time be swallowed without being mindful. Make a conscious choice to do something you love! Its time that the universe as given to you and you can use it to your benefit, but like I said in the beginning – you do have control over your actions and you have to decide what you want to do with that time.

Lesson 4 – Look Inwards

Our outward focus is amazing. We look at how the other person is performing and set our standards based on them. We become green at the lifestyles of others and drive ourselves mad trying to get there or go into depression because we feel we cannot. We define ourselves by measuring how rich we are, how beautiful we are, how charitable we are, how hard-working we are against others.

We have let the outside environment decide how we feel about ourselves and have not taken the time to understand who we really are.

I feel it is a great time to look inwards and try and shed all pre-conceived notions, external pressures, expectations (from self and from others) aside. The idea is to consciously try and understand who you are, what makes you feel happy – and not because someone told you that you ‘should’ feel happy about it. It may require you to think a little bit like a rebel if you are not used to defying what has been thrust on you for years. Take this time to look inside and empower yourself with your true personality and your true being!

Lesson 5 – Re-organize Your Priority List

We have been doing a lot of things in a robotic manner and we do not even realize it. Too many things are not questioned because things are running smoothly and the maxim ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’ works best for us. It is however, a good thing to review the direction in which you are moving. You will not ‘feel’ an encroaching cliff if you do not look ahead and the impact will come only when you hit the ground.

The lockdown, work from home time that this coronavirus has provided us is a good time to look ahead, review the path that we are on, ascertain whether we are encroaching a cliff and re-prioritize, if need be.

This will obviously mean different things for different people. While some may feel the need to spend more time with their loved ones, others may decide to conquer their fears and start that business. Some may decide to travel more after the dust settles down on this and plan future vacations and others might make a list of books to read.

It is time to think about what REALLY matters!