COVID-19: Finding optimism amidst chaos and panic
It’s really important to be Optimistic at this time of the global pandemic. Everyone knows what it is and everyone knows statistics on how it is spreading across the globe. Though, In this hard time, we just need to realize one important thing that optimism conquers everything. Whenever something tragedic happens, Nature tries to warn us and align us to the marrow of life. I see a lot of chaos going around the globe and It scares me too but I am trying to identify what it is trying to teach us as human beings rather than why did it happen.
Give up your comforts
It has taught me that health is the first thing and the only thing you should worry about and this includes all types of health be it physical, mental and emotional. If your body is healthy then you are capable of fighting with anything that comes your way. Most people do have very weak or compromised immunity. Why? Because we have made ourselves adaptive to the comfort and leisure of life. We are not adaptive to extreme life scenarios. We are not ready for the worst. This is the time that we start getting more comfortable by getting uncomfortable. Try to be as rough as possible to the situation so that we can live life as it presents itself.
Your body will become what you expose it to.If you are exposing it to heat, It will become adaptive to bear the heat. If you expose it to snow, It will become adaptive to cold. It’s upto you to make is strong as boulder, depends what you expose it to.
But there are certain scenarios when you cannot control the law of nature. You cannot keep your body healthy always. In that case, Your mental and emotional health comes into play that how you keep it sane to do something that is right for you and everyone around you.
Know who matters
Stuck down in an unknown city in time of the pandemic, far away from home is the worst thing to face. I had a nightmare last night that the world is dying and everything is collapsing and I woke up missing my family so badly. I never miss anyone, at all. Before this pandemic happened, I was so busy traveling around the world and wandering to the places I always wanted to. Though, missing my home is something big for me.
This is the time when I realized that money, power and material things will fade away. Every thing that you are, that you accomplised and love will be gone, forever. Here in this time, you realize what matters the most to you. Not Travel, No Money, No stuff, It’s just people.
If this quarantine thing doesn’t teach you how to love your family and people who love you, I don’t know what will.
Discover your hidden talents
The quarantine time for me is tough. Especially for someone who keeps wandering. Who is not confined by walls and always need something to keep moving. Well, I don’t have many options and I have to restrict everything within the walls I am living in. To keep me busy, I have been cooking 3 times a day. For me as well as my 2 friends that I am home quarantined with. I tried to cook various dished that I’ve never done before and that’s pretty great. Rather than killing my time on social media, I would prefer doing something to keep me sane.
Hinging with social media is going to drain you after a while.Do something that makes you productive. Cook, get an online course, work on that blog, finish your website, read a book. Do everything that adds productivity to your day.
Reading books is another way around and I was already alarmed by the lockdown situation coming ahead so I loaded up my library with new 5–6 books to spend my time well. I am an active reader, I am driven by ideas so I bought books with a different genre that I’ve never read before. This is a simple psychology hack to keep you interested “To bring something new for your brain.”
Connect with family and friends
By connecting, I mean virtually connecting. The physical distance must be maintained to the extent possible. And this makes me miss my family and friend even more. This situation made us realize what truly matters is the people around you. Not our achievements and races that we’ve won.
The society that we tried to impress is running away from us and doesn’t care whether you have a billion-dollar villa and a porsche. They are going to run away from you if you are infected. Your family and friends will be there for you.
Take some time, since you have plenty now to express each and everyone what they mean to you and stay connected. This will bring us all together.
Proper Hygiene is going to avoid other diseases as well
I don’t know if we will find a cure for this one or not but always remember that Malaria, Typhoid and other diseases that are common now, were once deadly.
Corona is now part of human infection and diseases just like Malaria, Typhoid, Asthama and humans are supposed to live with it. Maybe we’ll find cure but it will never vanish completely. The only way to avoid this is proper Hygiene.
We barely take our Hygiene seriously, but now we are even washing our hands after touching a foreign object or maybe handshaking. COVID-19 is going to improve the Hygiene system worldwide and people are going to take it seriously and it is going to help avoid other common diseases as well. People with normal cold and flu will be taken more seriously and the overall health system is going to improve.
Nature is healing
With more and more lockdown around the world, with very little and rare human activity, nature is taking over and healing itself. Check out the air pollution traffic in china going down as posted on The Verge.
Italy also reported unintended climate change over the COVID-19 lockdown. Venice reports crystal clear water as boat traffic shut down as reported by NBCNews.
Tourists on a Venice canal in 2013. Water in Venice’s canals appeared to run clearer in the absence of boat traffic in early March. (Getty Images; Marco Capovilla / Venezia Pulita)
As NASA Earth tweeted, Nitrogen dioxide dropdown could be seen over china.
Source: NASA Earth (twitter)
Clearer waters in Venice in early March were an unintended climate benefit of the coronavirus lockdowns in Italy. (Marco Capovilla / Venezia Pulita)
Also, The humpback dolphins are spotted in Mumbai since the human sea activity has been brought to shut amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Nature is coming back to life and it’s an indication by nature that we are responsible for destroying nature and mother earth is better off without humans.
More me-time
Far away from hustle and bustle of day to day life, we barely get time to sit down and talk with ourselves. We barely get time to think where we are heading and what we are doing about it. We’ve got plenty of time and I don’t think we would’ve ever got it if it wasn’t to avoid COVID-19. We can make the best out of it. Spend time introspecting your inner thoughts. Connecting within your inner soul and desires. Bring peace to your head by spending time doing yoga, meditation, workout and watch that TV series you always wanted to but couldn’t because you had to commute 2 hours daily to work. It is the best time to do what you always wanted to do to be the best of you.
On the endnote
Out of all the things that are going around, I would like to say that it’s the truth that COVID-19 is the new harsh reality of human diseases and it’s going to be here forever, even if we find its cure. The good thing is everything is there to teach us something. It’s just that we must be open to seeing what nature is trying to teach us. Try to identify the signs of this universe and understand what is best for all. Don’t panic. See the best sides, Be healthy, Stay inside, Wash your hands, Stay inside and Yes, keep up the optimism. Everything is gonna be stable one day.