Lessons of Pandemic

When I came to realize about the Coronavirus outbreak, I thought it's just going to come to pass like all other viruses that were reported before. I didn't know much of the impact it can cost to human lives. The news of reported cases and deaths that spread throughout the world sends a frightening message to all of us. I've read the story on the internet and Facebook. Even my mom sent me information and warning videos in my messenger that made me also annoyed and telling her to stop sending me negativity. My poor mom was probably just worried about me. This outbreak had become a pandemic. Almost every country was in a state of emergency and had its citizens to panic and buy all unnecessary things for the sake of safety. It was funny as well that I brought home from work a lot of free toilet papers even before this outbreak. Luckily, I don't also have to worry about toilet papers when the outbreak emerged. I got a lot of mixed feelings when this happens, and I don't know if I have to be serious about it or heed its warnings. When I saw the rising death toll on the news, I realize the gravity of this pandemic. My country was in a state of emergency and shut down many businesses, and I got laid off from the job because of it.

At the back of my mind, this could be another conspiracy, like it was used as a biochemical weapon, and the virus is just a smokescreen for some more significant agendas by the government, specifically China. I am more interested in what we can get out of it in terms of improvement in ourselves and the solitary confinement within the bounds of our own home. I thought I would go crazy doing nothing, mainly that I lived alone and had to do everything by myself. I did all sorts of things that will occupy me for the time being. Then it dawned on me, I needed this break. I did a lot of meditation and self-reflection. The solitude helps me understand who I am, including my flaws, aspirations, and hope. But behind all this, I hope and pray that this outbreak will finally end so we won't see any more suffering on people who died and the people they left behind. I can imagine the pain of losing someone, and the sad thing is, you can't do anything about it and the fact that you can't even see them to their last breath.

The impact this outbreak has on our lives is both positive and negative. It is negative because it took many lives, and the choices frontline workers have to make as to who will live or die. Unfortunately, they have to make these choices and to what measure that one has to die and the other lives because of age, and that one deserves to live more than the other. Imagine the heartbreak of each family who has lost their loved ones because of this tragedy. In this crisis, everyone is potentially in danger. We must take this seriously and do the necessary safety precautions to avoid the virus.

On the other hand, while we fight to contain the outbreak's effect, it has forced us to slow down and stay in our homes to manage the spread of the virus. Most businesses shut down, and it's almost impossible to go anywhere, and you are left with the choice to stay home and be safe. It's virtually impossible not to do anything because we were used to being busy. This outbreak just suddenly changed that. Now we are facing ourselves and have to learn to get used to the solitude. Social distancing arises, and I've never heard that term before until this happens. However, social distancing may never be new to us, and we have been doing it since cell phones were invented. Your iPhones and androids replaced human connection, and we are glued to it for most of our lives, so I assume that social distancing is not foreign to us.

In this situation, I hope it allows us to look deep within ourselves, reevaluate, and reflect to improve our lives and develop our spiritual consciousness. The world may have all sorts of problems like wars, climate change, loss of resources and economic downfall, etc. Without the right attitude and spiritual transformation, how can we deal with these problems? Isn't it about time to approach our problems not only in economic or scientific solutions but with a spiritual approach? I feel that our most significant issue is that we lack the spiritual consciousness to make the right choice that is not based on greed, apathy, and irresponsibility. This time is the right time to look inside ourselves and use the time to evaluate the decisions we are making in our lives. We may not change the world in an instant, but by changing ourselves, we are changing the way we see ourselves and the world.

Because of this outbreak, the planet has time to breathe and heal itself without human interference. Suddenly, time stands still. A feeling of calmness descends upon you, no schedule, no deadline to meet, nowhere to go, no friend to meet, no urge to shop. All you have is yourself. You have all the time in the world, and now you don't know how to deal with it. Now you have time to do only the things you love instead of doing the things you hate but still ought to do it. You are facing yourself now. You wonder why your brain suddenly stops annoying you from doing unnecessary things. You also realize society has put a lot of burden in your mind that's not supposed to be there. Still, you thought it's your responsibility to follow your thought train even if it doesn't benefit your being. Now you have the opportunity to unlearn everything, and you learn to discern what is most important to you. Now you know this society had you stuck in the illusion of what you are supposed to be than what you truly are, that you are enough. Everything else is just a distraction society created to sway you from knowing your real self. If we were not given a break from this outbreak, do we know who we are?

We may not realize it, but the results of this pandemic brought uncertainty in our lives. It is hard to think straight and gain enough understanding when your future is at stake. Many people don't know where to get money to pay their bills, and the fact that a lot lost their jobs and cut off from their way of life is hard to gain perspective when an unexpected turn of events like this caught us unprepared. It's just a matter of faith whether they can survive this pandemic. Fear arises because you are not sure if we can contain the virus, it may be. Still, the impact it will create for the vast majority of people will have their lives shifted for better or worse when this is all over. We are given time to evaluate our decisions and the way we live our lives, and when it comes to a crunch, we know the real people who will put their lives on the line to protect our well being. We come to understand how the government responds to this crisis and whose people genuinely care about us and who are adding to the suffering of people. And I am sure you get a glimpse of those kinds of people when you watch the media. I have my concern as well, but the only thing I could ever do right now is to be optimistic and hope that everything will turn out good for all of us. On the other hand, I hope this event gives us a lesson that will change our perspective and expect a positive outcome as a result of isolation.

I think when this is all over, we will realize how little we need, how much we have, and how essential human connection is. While we have a chance to get to know ourselves, the planet is healing. We realize how we humans are detrimental to the survival of this planet. The universe reminds us that it only takes a choice to either take care or destroy this world. You see, the planet doesn't need us, but we need it. Such is the arrogance of humans to think that we are the center of the universe and that our needs are more important than other species. Now we are faced with a question, is humanity cancer or contributor to the growth and evolution of our planet? When this is all over, change is inevitable in all aspects of our lives. It is not a question whether I am right with my assessment in this writing, but what choice are we going to make as a result of this outbreak. Have we learned something, or are we going to be the same, not learning from our mistakes? Maybe the universe is giving us a chance to look in ourselves and how we seriously destroy our planet. If we cannot learn from this, then we know the consequences we can expect with the future of this planet and the next generation. The choice is ours.