How to help someone who is far from me…

During this pandemic, I have had many situations in which the people going through problems were far from me, physically, and the problems were very big.

Sometimes, I was able to talk with the person and give some comfort. Other times, I just talked…

And at other times, I’ve failed and probably, I’ve made it worse.

But there is something I am sure it works, ALWAYS: to send good wishes.

It may sound something… ethereal… and I don’t have proof it works, but we may all do a few experiments:

Think of someone who is in need and who lives far from you. Think of that person in their best, with a big smile and much energy, and do that exercise during some time, at the same time (hour) and for the same length of time.

When you talk with someone who is in trouble, before talking with that person, do the former exercise, seeing them in your mind in their best. Make sure you are talking with the person in their best moment…

After talking with someone going through a bad period in their life, take some time out to wish the best to that person, in your heart.

Don’t forget that you can only help others if you help yourself first, particularly if you are going through a similar scene in the play of your life. Meditate, empower yourself, study, talk with other people and then extend the hand of your ears and heart to others.

Can we start all over again?

Our civilization has generated a dependency on things and people who are just an image or voice, so imagine if that is cut.

In fact, we had a small rehearsal of a few years with the COVID pandemic. I will give a personal example.

Every year I used to travel to India; it was something very valuable for my personal growth and I used to enjoy the interaction with people from so many countries. And all of a suddenly ¡it was OVER! For two years I had to just sit and miss being there…

Eventually, the travels for foreigners resumed to India, but I keep thinking if that was it: if our civilization finally reach to a halt and we had to live in a totally different civilization.

Because I don’t think the world will end as it becomes extinct; I keep imagining a world that had to reset itself.

A few thoughts on that:

• Instead of travelling to other places, we may have to enjoy and go deep on the places we live. It is an interesting way to see our reality in a different way.
• Maybe we won’t have internet to communicate with others, but this is the chance to communicate with the self, God and even nature.
• It is possible our present comforts won’t be present, so we will need to comfort ourselves in different ways by meditating, praying or just enjoying nature.
• We won’t have our favorite foods! So, we will have to make whatever is available into our favorite food.

And the list goes on… The important thing is if someday the end comes, remember you can always reset your world.

And the pandemic is over, so what?

Yes, it is not over yet, but we have gone through the worse… I think…

Anyway, part of my effort has been to design the next stage for myself, before the situations designed it.

So, it is important to have a vision of the future and to start planning for three things:

• What are the lessons? A worldwide reflection is probably the best solution, but if you and I reflect on it, that will do, at least for our circle of influence. By the way, a lesson is not something you know, but rather something you are applying to your life.
• Which of the new habits we adopted during the pandemic are worth to keep? Probably nobody will want to see a mask for quite a while, but what about washing hands so many times? Social distancing? Less car, more open space? There are not only good habits that came from this crisis; they may save us from a future similar one.
• How to adjust our new reality to live better and to prevent future crises? The pandemic was one crisis, but many others are underlying there such as the economic crisis and the social crisis. It is time that we change the route of our civilization – the pandemic and other crises they are an alarm we should not dismiss that something is very wrong.

So before going back to your favorite shopping mall or that party, reflect on these and let’s start a change that is really overdue.

Unintended consequences

An old movie[1] showed a very hypothetical situation: imagine if Earth activities would stop completely; it takes place in the fiction work by neutralizing electricity everywhere.

In our reality, it is taking place by a virus and reality is completely different than fiction.

And there are consequences – the 1951 movie hasn’t showed much of the bad results, but in this era, we are watching it online.

Now, by writing this post I have always wanted to stimulate a different positive realistic approach in relation to reality. So I won’t get into the negative consequences we can know anytime by tuning into any media.

But there is something that is being talked at many of the current media: recession. It is an almost cursed word that takes us to images and stories we would prefer to avoid. I myself was brought up very far from the recession epicenter, in time and space, but I consumed so many movies that sometimes I felt I went through the recession, and the sensation was very bad…

So, what to do? Just cry and blame something or someone? Fight?

These are times of uncertainty, that is true, but these are also times for good leadership. At least, a good self-leadership. By being your own leader, perhaps you won’t solve the crisis, but you can have more clarity about what to do.

It is an opportunity for reinvention, to rethink the self and to choose new routes for your life.

It is a wonderful opportunity to take over your own life and design it in a way that your resilience increases and you are able to obtain success even against the odds.

It is an opportunity for solidarity, cooperation and a sense of being part of a big human family, as we never had before.

It is an opportunity… even though it does not look like that a few times. Just try it to see the situations in this different way and check the results.

This is part of a series of posts on self-care.

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[1] The Day the Earth Stood Still. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still