What’s Mother Nature up to? I think we will always look back at March 2020 as the month of COVID-19. It’s frightening out there. People are panicking from not being able to work, they’re hoarding food in grocery stores, and we’re missing our friends and coworkers. Most of all, we’re scared of the unknown—how bad will it get and how long will the quarantine last? What will the virus do to our loved ones and our livelihoods?
In America, we’re not used to this. I come from Puerto Rico, where our beautiful country has been continually ravaged by Mother Nature. It seems every year there’s a major earthquake or hurricane that shatters the economy and causes all sorts of heartache to the people who live there.
Here in the U.S., we’re lucky to have the infrastructure to support Mother Nature’s tantrums, and the consequent needs, like so many workers going online, overnight. Most of us are working from home now, and for some, it is a bigger struggle. Those of us who were already set up virtually can conduct business as normal while those who weren’t, had to play catch up. Those of us who are extroverts will be missing the company of our coworkers. Those who worked virtually before now do so besides their spouse or children who are home from school. Some of us, like me, were responsible for moving people to a virtual environment which was a brand new, unexpected challenge. No matter what your experience is these days, we can all agree that it’s different than the “norm,” so we are all absorbing a certain amount of stress about the situation.
Unfortunately, the things we do to take the edge off have been pulled out from under us too. We can’t go out to dinner with friends, to a sporting event, the theater, our favorite watering hole, or even to the gym for a good workout.In my case, I can’t go flying and work towards my pilot’s license because the flight school is closed. It’s just another part of this that makes us fearful. Some of us ask ourselves, how are we supposed to function like this?
It’s interesting. Some of the people I know who have complained about not being able to work from home are the same ones who are now complaining that they wish they can go back to their offices. As human beings, we have a distinct ability to find the negative in every situation! Instead, we should be looking for the positive. Because that’s the way we will get through this…to stop complaining and concentrate on the positive.
What’s positive about the virus, you ask? Instead of feeding the fear of the situation, take the opportunity to see what you have learned from it, about yourself and others around you.
What about your homelife? Has it improved any? That’s a positive.
Have you been able to take time and clean out that messy cabinet or drawer, or get to that home improvement project you’ve been putting off? That’s a positive.
Have you done something with your kids or your spouse that you have not had time to do with them for a long time? Without the option for them to run off to a friend’s house, maybe they’ve sat down and watched a movie with you or you’ve done a project together. That’s a positive.
Have you played with the dog more in the past few weeks just because you’ve been home more? That’s a positive.
Do you play a musical instrument and had more time to practice or have you gotten to that book you’ve been wanting to read? That’s a positive.
Have you been able to write down your thoughts? I always complain that I don’t have the time to work on the book I’m finally writing. Now I do!
You can probably come up with a list of things you “never have time for” that you suddenly have time for now! It’s all positive.
Yet even after we figure out how to weather the storm, we still may wonder, why us? Are we being punished?
I’m a person of faith and I truly believe natural disasters are not God’s way of punishing us. I do think they are messages to us and if we’re smart, we’ll heed those messages.
I recently read a news article that said that pollution in China has gone down 40% since the outbreak. That’s a big positive in a country that has struggled with pollution for so long. Is Mother Nature telling us something?
What about all the seeming increase in natural disasters with the simultaneous concern about global warming? What message can we find in these natural disasters? Are we truly victims or are we contributing in some way by how we use our resources?
While we’re locked down from this virus, we are resetting the norm. The air is purifying from the decrease in cars on the road and planes in the sky. In the end, the benefit is for us all. Mother Nature is using this time to make us all slow down and appreciate all that we have been given.
There’s a time for everything in life. Right now, it’s time to appreciate life as it is, and in the process, we’ll give Mother Nature a break. And that’s a positive!