Awakening Amid Chaos

Corona, pandemic, infections, social distancing, quarantine - This is all we hear about, lately. I am sure each of you have mixed emotions when you hear about Corona that is fast spreading, taking many lives with it while leaving others, sincerely, hoping they would survive to get back to their normal lives again. The sight is quite devastating but at the same time instigates a fear of survival that many of us might not acknowledge openly. All of us have become experts in topics on pathogens, viruses in particular, its mode of action, preventive measures in these few months or that is what I understand from the posts on various social media platforms.

There are a lot of medical professionals who have released videos on the nature of this pathogen, on how to protect ourselves and there are a few others who have taken efforts to motivate everyone out there to stay positive and responsible until this goes away. So, there is nothing that I can say in these grounds as its doubly emphasized already. However, there is something that struck me hard when I saw a post that said - "We all owe 2019 an apology for what we said about it". It was definitely funny at first, I forwarded it to my friends and they laughed at it too. When I spent some time thinking about it, I realized that this pandemic really has an important lesson to teach all of us. Until, this January, I am sure all of us would have made a long list of plans this year like to travel around the world, to progress in our respective careers, to achieve something big and noticeable, to be better than those with whom we always compare ourselves - may be not all, but most of us (come on! for once let's be honest to ourselves, no one has the time or energy to judge us now). In the past year(s), we would have lamented about how unfortunate our lives are, like:

• Life is boring (Even when there were so many things to do out there. Now, imagine sitting at home hoping Corona wouldn't find us)
• I am not lucky (now I feel I'll be very lucky if I survive this pandemic to share it with my grandchildren)
• I am not very rich (Dude! Share markets are taking a hit, businesses have closed down, people who can, are working from home while daily laborers are not even earning).
• I don't like anyone. I'd rather be alone. (Now, we are very much alone and a comforting word from anyone, we know, would be a blessing in disguise)
• Worrying about looks, about not having enough dresses or jewellery (Right now, the cleanest person would be awarded a longer life than the most beautiful one. So, you choose.)
• Why can't my mother cook tasty food? (Tasty food? It is so difficult to even find "food" in the stores. I just stocked up my supplies with ready-to-make foods and canned vegetables that will last long enough in case there comes a shortage)

.... I can keep going, but, I guess you got the gist already. Life has its own way of taking its course. I guess it is time we all focus on being a good person and of course, focus on personal growth and measure it with who you were yesterday not with anyone else because we may never know what will happen in the next few minutes. A wise friend once said, "Live life one day at a time, keep working hard towards a better you. One day, after years of focused efforts, when you turn back you will realize you have come a long way from who you were yesterday and that, my friend is success". It did not make sense to me back then but today, I remind myself how valuable these words were and will continue to be. Take life easy, take tiny steps towards growing into a better being, congratulate yourself even for the smallest efforts you took in a day (because no one else will and no one is obligated to do it, either) and its okay if a day or two goes by without any progress. This pandemic is already almost under control and this too shall pass. But, the lessons we take from this, will stay with us for a life time, if we decide to pay heed to it. 

Remember, one day at a time!