There will be a time when we come from under the dark cloud of COVID-19. Meanwhile, there are questions you may want to start thinking about. For instance, will you choose to live under the bright life-giving light of the sun, or the lifeless light coming through internet windows? Will you go back to life as you knew it?
Going forward, your answers to these and other questions may determine the quality of the rest of your life.
Right now, because of the CORONAVIRUS pandemic, many of you are working remotely. You had to get the necessary access, set-ups, supplies, etc. Then you had to adapt, adjust and come to terms with a new and indefinite reality.
Since I had to bring my work home, this new reality has upset my work-home life balance. Consequently, this only adds to the stress. Regardless, “Is” will always beat “If”. So, for now, my focus here is on the home life side of the equation.
We chose to treat the situation as a blessing in disguised and are now spending more “quality” Life interacting with each other. It is like being sentenced to do Time with my family, and that is just fine. Of course, we abide by COVID-19 precautions, but continue to live as best we can. Even so, we are anxious and scared, but we hope and pray that this too shall pass. We clean, cook and have more dinners together. We watch more movies and play board games. We joke and laugh more. We spend more Life in Time sitting out in our backyard, reading, listening to music, enjoying the pool and going on walks. We love and care more and are closer than we had been in a while.
Being a Mindfulness practitioner gives me a true appreciation for this new reality. Simply put, we spend more life in Time “being” human with each other in the here and now; the ONLY place and time Life happens.
So, where do we go from this place and time; this place where we do so much living?
Most of you will return to the wireless world of interconnectivity and endless open internet windows, and that is as it should be. A modern world requires it. Still, there will be a period of adaptation and readjustment, and it may be very challenging for some. You may be one of those for whom going back may feel like an order lifted after having been placed under house arrest.
Either way, there is no way to un-live the experiences of being quarantined, or to un-learn lessons. But I believe it is wise and healthy to reflect on experiencing Life as it “is”. Now, is as good a time as any.
I reflect on life as never being the same again, and of having to rebalance my life. This, I will have to do if any real meaning we find as a family is going to make a positive and lasting difference going forward.
Still, are we going to “be” as we are now, and not because we are forced to? Are we going to “do” and “be” more? Are we going to intentionally disconnect more often and for longer periods of time to “be” present in the only occasion of our lives; Now? Are we going to live “more” under the life-giving light of the Sun?
How about moving forward with one more dinner together, one more walk, one more movie, one more joke, one more prayer, one more act of lovingkindness upon anyone? That “one more” may make all the difference in the world.
I found answers in “being” mindful of these simple realities: I DO NOT get Time. I am born “in” it. I DO NOT spend Time. Time spends us all into “nothingness” or into something we know nothing about. I DO NOT run out of Time. I simply run out of Life; I die. Time does not care what I do, where I am, or who I am. It does not even care that I am human.
Knowing this, and doing “one more”, what will your story be? Will it be that you went back to the life you lived pre COVID-19 or that you did go back, but with humility, gratitude and a fresh sense of “being” in Time?
The dictionary defines Manage as- to direct, handle or control. Is this what you “think” you do with Time? If it is, you need to wake up from that illusion. On the contrary, it is something you can “do” with your life. How you live it will depend on how “manage” it?
“Life is a “doing” proposition, fueled by our emotions, and steered by our thoughts”.
“Now, is that constant instant between the past and the future. It is the only Time we live, and the only Time we can do something, about almost anything”.
“Life and Time are two parallel lines on a single page, where stories of life have endings, where Time does not”.
************************
Please, until we come from under the dark cloud of COVID-19, let us all continue to practice regular hand washing, social distancing and self-quarantine. Just as important, pray for your “self”, those you love, and the world. Thanx.
By the way, a partly sunny day is a good day, and most of the time “good”, is good enough.
It’s Now O’ Clock. Being Mindful … it Always is.
Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash