Why Appreciation Matters During The COVID-19 Pandemic

While we are all at home practising social distancing during the lockdown, what are some of those crucial things to keep in mind?

As we are gearing up for the next phase of the nationwide lockdown, I have noticed criticisms in the society. While what we should be actually doing is only absorbing the important, practical information, we must also appreciate the work some people are doing on the front lines of this crisis.

Check out: Being Mindful in the times of current COVID-19 crisis.

Why is it so difficult to believe that an economy as big as ours is asking everyone to stay at home for their own good? Rather, we end up making and forwarding outrageous and pointless memes on this situation.

Let us take the example of the police force of our country. Due to the immoral acts of some of the personnel, the whole force is usually treated with impertinence. At the end of the day, we should appreciate the efforts they are putting in by working day and night to ensure that we don’t step out unless it’s very critical. Yet, we not only go out unnecessarily, we also fight with the same people who are risking their life for the greater good and well-being.

I see retired uncles and young kids in parks playing and chatting and not maintaining social distancing measures. Why are they violating rules as well as putting themselves at risk? Is this really the time to be doing so?

Be cognisant, and even if you feel you are asked to toe the line, let us respect the “Lakshman Rekha” made for our well-being and follow the norms set by the government to contain the impact of this obnoxious virus.

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Don’t play the blame game!

It’s very easy to find mistakes in someone or a system while it takes a lot of courage to recognise the good efforts and appreciate them.

We are blessed to be part of one of the biggest democracies of the world where we vote and choose our leaders for the most part.  Instead of indulging hearsay about who is a demagogue who is saint, we should avoid playing the blame game and point fingers at political leaders. Instead, we should comply with the measures, fulfill our social duties as citizens, and make the most of out of the situation.

For instance, we criticize government for not doing something about the litter and landfills in our country while we forget that who contributed to that huge garbage in the first place. We are all equally responsible for the portrayalof among this crowded and polluted landscape of garbage stacks.

Appreciate cleanliness and make it a habit

Now when we all are at home mostly without domestic helpers and see what it takes to keep a home & neighborhood clean, we should take this as a lesson and make it our habit to keep our surroundings clean with minimum to no litter.

Doing most of our household chores ourselves not only gives a sense of satisfaction but also keeps us active. We tend to feel tired and settle down to sleep earlier than before. We will even want to keep the same place tidy & clean that we worked on.

They say that “Charity begins at home”, yet, now is the time to do some charity and also organically invest in the future of our kids. This is the best time to teach our kids the importance of cleanliness and how we can recycle things. Gardening lessons and nurturing Mother Nature can be one of them.

This time, we can see such clear skies and can enjoy fresh air outside throughout the day. I keep making videos and uploading them to various social media platforms to influence others and also make them appreciate what we have been blessed with.

So let’s look around while we listen to mesmerising voices of various birds outside, appreciate the beauty as well as pledge to keep doing our bit to preserve it.

Even when we are out of this COVID crisis and life gets back to normal, planned lockdowns should be practiced at the state level at least, so that we also give some time for the environment to breathe and heal, especially after festivals.

Aren’t we blessed to be still at work?

I know it’s hard and concerning hearing all the news about economic variations and recessions but instead of being poignant, we can at least think about it from other perspective that our life is more important than anything else right now.

Try to have some faith in the active government bodies! None of us was prepared for this. Demanding that the government have an immediate contingency plan in place is one thing but unless we have been in such a situation, we can’t be sure how the plan will work. But trust me, what our government is doing is far more commendable.

They are not coming on national television to gain ground for themselves. They bear the onus of a complete state or the full country as a whole. Their endeavor is to save us together and it becomes our moral responsibility to understand them.

I am an IT person and have daily calls with my US counterparts. They praise about our government and their words are “What your government is doing is really appreciable and is the need of the hour!”

I once saw a forwarded message that said that Lord Hanuman changed his size, approach and strategy continuously as the situation demanded, but always ensured the job was done. We also need to be a bit innovative to make sure we complete our tasks and accept the changing circumstances.

It all begins at home!

It’s always good to have a priority list of things that matter the most for our survival. And at this, it’s our health and the well-being of our loved ones that matters. This includes mental satisfaction.

If it’s just the ladies working all the time without any breaks, how do we think they are going to maintain a positive state of mind? I mean we are not saints right?

So let’s help each other and set a precedent. Make an action plan and work on it by dividing responsibilities so that we all get time to relax and sit together at the end of the day.

While we are learning to live life in a minimalist fashion, we should also spare time to make some new dishes, spend quality time with family members, play games that we used to as a child, try some indoor workouts together and teach our kids the value of things.

We work day and night to earn money for our bread and butter and to fill not only our pockets but also of those of the people who work for us. Well, again, I know it’s circumstantial but as I said earlier, get those lazy bones working and let’s all make this time together as productive as we can for the beautiful place we call home.

Utilise this time for the best!

While strenuous travel is not on the charts now and we have plenty of time in hand, let us try to keep ourselves mentally engaged with some positive thinking. It is important to keep practicing social distancing from all the negativity around us as well.

After all, we earn so that we can be with our family, can eat good food, can live longer and enjoy this unique life we are blessed with as humans.

So let us try to:

• Rain or shine, go about our day, think critically and embrace it cheerfully.
• Avoid being Infobese! Be very careful in what we believe and what we share to only spread positive vibes!
• Be patient, vigilant and thoughtful for some days and prevent the virus from entering our homes.
• If you find someone violating the rules or lockdown, warn them with grit and convince them to be supportive.
• Ignore the daylight between each other and stay united for the common interest.
• Keep our spirits up by thinking of and thanking the superpower that we believe in.
• Appreciate the gallent superheros who are quietly serving the society in various ways, remember them and be grateful to them. They could be in form of street vendors/hawkers, delivery boys, police force, security guards, doctors, nurses, ruling leaders or anybody working in support to deal with the situation.
• Let us not hoard things because in this situation taking more than necessary is actually like stealing from someone else. So if you can, please donate in cash or kind.

Overall, don’t let your guards down! Stay positive, stay isolated, stay safe, make wise decisions and stay healthy everyone! Gear up to look at life with more zest and value once all of this is over and our lives are back to normal.

Image Source: The Economic Times

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