The experience of lockdown
Lockdown or for some of us “lockup”, has had interesting effects. Let’s take myself as an example:
1) The apartment building’s parking lot has become my gym of choice
2) Shopping for food is an outing that you dress up for
3) In depth, philosophical conversations are had with the girl at the point of sale
4) Going away for the evening is now sleeping in a different bedroom
5) Eating out is defined as which ready meal to take out of the fridge
6) Zoom, Microsoft Teams, ezTalks, Skype, etc is my window into the world
7) Favourite topic of conversation with myself: “Who am I, What am I, Where do I come from, Where am I going, What is my purpose” And “Why is this happening, Why now, and Why am I alive during this time?
How are you perceiving this time?
This time that we have been blessed with (called: lockdown / lockup / social distancing / and now we are naming children after it), does allow us, if we want to and if we are ready to, to look at how we are living life.
For me this has been a time to really assess what is important, what do I want in my life, what do I not want in my life, and what can I do to make us humans the best we can be.
Life was given to us to experience – good, bad, indifferent – it does not matter. Life is a gift. We are masters at wasting this gift; only to dream of the day we can retire and sit and enjoy life at the end of it all.
Now in the old paradigm that is exactly the false truth we held on to. If I look at me father; for who I have the utmost respect and love for doing what he did; he believed that you get an education, find a job, get a good pension fund, work hard, raise a family, and then retire and wait to die. Fair approach.
Then my generation rebelled saying; “No – I want more”. So we got a good education, found a job, found another job, sub-contracted, found a job again, sub-contracted, then got scared because we are getting older (more mature), so we got a steady job with benefits and waiting for retirement so we can enjoy life before we pass on.
Then the Gen-X arrived saying: “No – we want more”. So, they got educated or not, found jobs or not, hopped from place to place, are very upfront with what they want and don’t want, got stuck in the “you have to feel it”-syndrome (e.g. non-reality), and …; well the verdict is still out on that one.
So I decided to ask my broker – the guys that sell you your future, your security, your ability to sit on the porch and drink coffee, watching the tide roll in and out – Question to him: “how many people have had the privileged to cash in all their investments / policies / annuities and do just that – sit on the porch drinking coffee and watching the tide roll in and out.” The answer, and believe me it took a while of senseless discussions to get to the real answer to the question, was: “None”
AND, I asked myself – then why do we all wait to start living?
Our answer is always the same: “When I resign / retire / have enough / my boat come in / find the courage; then I will …”
I read an inspirational saying:
Ego says: “Once everything falls into place, I’ll feel peace.”
Spirit says: “Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place.”
What if Covid-19 is our time to find peace? What if this is the time to start living? Life is a gift – start living it.
Question is – how will you start living? What will be that spark of passion that gets you to look at yourself and say: “Enough is Enough!; I will take my life back”
What if we can do this in all aspects of our lives? We always think that we must just work on ourselves to gain happiness and joy. Some of us believe we have to revoke all aspects of our lives to become at peace. A bit scary – but for some this is normal everyday.
CHALLENGE: I invite all and everyone to find their peace in each and every part of your life.
A very good friend of mine once said: “bloom where you are planted”; Meaning “be the best that you can be wherever you find yourself at that point in time”
What if you just take one step today – just one towards living life to what you want? What if you set just that one thing you always wanted to do? What if you just do that one thing – no matter how small or how insignificant it feels OR how “gainormous” it may feel. What if you just give yourself that one break? What if you just might find life – is that so bad? What if you bloomed today where you are planted? Is your mind still in order for your body to create?
What if …?
You may ask why I am digressing, talking about “finding peace” and “blooming where you are planted”.
Answer: You must know yourself. You must be free from all that holds you back. You must be you – not someone else or mimicking someone else.
Only when You are you – can you create beyond your wildest imagination.
Reality is – we are alive now. Covid is real. People are living, and People are dying. Life threw us a curve ball, how are we going to hit it back? Over the fence, down the line, or struck out? Life is in each of our hands. We have a new canvas to paint on. We have the opportunity of a lifetime to see change that few saw before us and may not see after us.
We are here at this time to be part of putting down the new foundation. That which we will build on for time to come.
Free your mind, be still, focus and be part of the new build.
I invite you to join me in my follow up posts to explore how we look at everyday norms and question if it serves us and humanity.
What if …?
