Well, after a year we’re still talking about, and going through this pandemic. I know I don’t need to dwell on this, and yet it’s been such a profound time in our lives that further reflection is warranted.
Granted, there have been some cities that have opened up, particularly in the U.S., and although life will probably never go back to being the way it once was, we will, I’m sure adjust and adapt to a new “normal.” After all we’re a lot more resilient than we think.
What I’ve learned however is that we, for the most part, didn’t handle ourselves all that well during a crisis of this nature. We retracted. We recoiled. We isolated not only ourselves, but also our minds. I’m of course speaking in general terms as for every poor behaviour there is always good just around the corner. What we didn’t handle well however, was our fear. We sucked at adjusting our behaviour.
We took our mask wearing to mean that we could be and say anything to our fellow humans. And by that I mean, we didn’t necessarily share pleasantries. We interpreted social distancing and staying 6′ apart as a license to not be as considerate as we could be. Certainly, we could make all sorts of excuses as to why we chose to behave in an unflattering manner, and yet it doesn’t change the fact that we treated one another rather rudely and without compassion. We could have easily led with more compassion.
I’m doing my best not to lecture and yet offer a perspective of what’s occurred (and still occurring). My accountability and responsibility in all of this was to consciously bring myself and my own behaviour to the “party.” And I did. For the most part. Far from perfect, and yet I practiced being positive. I so wanted others to bring their best self forward. It wasn’t as positive an experience as, well maybe, we all had hoped.
Can we change our behaviour and course of action? Of course. Do we want to?
We have a long way to go before this pandemic quiets down. We’re on an emotional rollercoaster and we want to get off. We’ve had enough. What would make it so much easier is if we connected more with our hearts and less from a survival mode mindset. The survival mind puts us in a place of fear. Where there’s fear there is no love. They don’t coexist.
Since this is all new to us anyway, why not take a different approach and lead with our hearts and find (even muster up) the energy to be a little more compassionate, kinder, and loving.
I know for sure our own self would feel the release of fear and move and be a lot lighter during heavy times.
Sending you, my love.