What a year it has been! Here I am sitting and reflecting on the last afternoon of the year about what this pandemic has managed to reveal in and about us.
We are highly adaptable.
We are highly adaptable and malleable creatures than we think. We reorientate ourselves effectively depending on the circumstances. We become our surroundings. As Viktor Frankl rightly said – “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” One of the most important abilities that is showered upon human species!
Nothing in life is more important than life itself.
Suddenly, all our priorities are set straight. The noise subsided. Your goals, ambitions, to do lists, complains – they lost the strong grip and stickiness they have otherwise. You realise that you need the body to enjoy the play of this existence and death is always around the corner. Survival becomes your utmost priority.
We need much less than we think.
Its amazing how little we need to survive. We naturally strive for more, accumulate more but the pandemic has shown us what is absolutely essential. And it is not much. The pandemic has converted the blurred line between “need” and “want” into a solid line.
We crave for genuine face to face human connection.
This is not something new. We are social animals. We yearn for community feeling and connection. No matter how many people we interact with on facebook or instagram, we crave for that full spectrum face to face communication. When meeting in person, you can see the sparkle in the eyes, you can understand the tone and context in which a person is speaking, you can observe the body language and so much more. I am generally a loner type and enjoy my solitude but I did miss interacting with a few people I love to talk to in person.
We need to be more grateful.
The pandemic has brought light into the fact how some things are seemingly taken for granted.
- Taking your kid to the park.
- Enjoying a stroll on the beach or in the woods.
- Enjoying a drink with close friends.
- Going out for dinner at your favorite restaurant.
- Travelling to a distant place.
We often undervalue these but when deprived of, we realise how truly valuable this freedom is. There is always and always something to be grateful for and the pandemic has shown how little we are.
Crisis is the catalyst for change.
We change when we absolutely need to or are forced into. Unfortunately, often it takes some sort of crisis to bring about the change. This pandemic has led a lot of people to slow down, introspect and re-evaluate things in their lives. It has exposed our habits and behaviors, deep rooted assumptions and conditioned thought patterns. The pandemic has proved to be a catalyst to bring critical changes in many lives.
One more reflection : We need crisis situations like pandemic frequently to make these realizations repeating and sinking deeper into our mind and heart before they get completely wiped out once things get better and normal. After all, we are human 🙂