Live each day as it comes
I was speaking to a couple of old university friends on Zoom the other day. This was a first Zoom call between us. Peter said that we should take each day as it comes and not make plans. He was speaking , of course, in the context of the current global pandemic. This is sound advice I think but it is not so easy to follow.
The same sentiment is expressed in the Bible :" Take no thought for the morrow. The morrow will take care of itself." ( Matthew 6 : 34 )
The same thought , " Be present in all things and thankful for all things" was advocated by the American writer Maya Angelou.
The problem is that as human beings we are usually thinking about the future in the short or long term. In many ways this is essential in order to live our lives on a practical level. We have to assess what we need before going shopping for food and household necessities. Then if we take medication we 'll need to organise supplies. That applies now in this period of lockdown just as it always has.
What's missing now in this time of Covid 19 is the pleasure we get from planning and then taking part in planning social interactions. Whether it is arranging to meet friends , the when and the where, or attending group meetings or classes if that's what we do. I'm writing here as a retired person so not considering at all the wider context of those who are working or attending school or college.
In 2020 we do have the great advantage of communication by all the electronic means now available to us . Most of us make use of e mail , text and phone ,which means for the younger generation mobile phone ; landlines to them are a thing of the past. WhatsApp has come to the fore and there is still Skype. The new boy on the block is Zoom , well new to me anyway , and this is becoming the method of choice to keep in touch with close friends and family . These means of keeping in touch without being physically present are random in that generally we do not know when they will happen. Yesterday for instance I had a phone call from my cousin which lasted one hour. But I didn't know beforehand that it was going to happen so there was no planning was required on my part. Zoom is the exception because a specific date and time has to be pre arranged by the participants. It is seen as a virtual meeting and it can be anticipated as well as experienced at the time.
In terms of our mental wellbeing we like certainty I think .The pandemic has shown us very clearly that life is precarious. People who appeared well have been laid low very quickly by Covid 19 and many thousands have been killed by this insidious disease. The idea that the virus is in the community around us and that if we come up against someone who is infectious then we ourselves could succumb to it is a frightening one. It means that we have lost an element of control over our lives. However unless we are in a vulnerable category we have to take our chances and continue to go out into the world in a limited way.
There are , however , very few places that we can go to as only a limited selection of shops are open though some changes are happening notably the return of garden centres. The big gap in our lives is still the absence of cafes which really were at the heart of social life in the U.K. And of course cinemas, music venues, pubs and clubs.
What about getting away from our home environment ? That's where uncertainty is the key word. With closed borders, struggling and defunct airlines and closure of transport links in general, the prospects of travelling far afield look very weak.
We like to plan as a means of reassuring ourselves that life will continue. When life is problematic or even just dull and routine we can if we are fortunate to have the means to do so, plan holidays, short or long then spend the months beforehand in looking forward, making specific arrangements or researching our destination. All that is on hold at present .
We have to be content with the here and now and this goes against our habits of scheduling and time tabling, booking ahead and fine tuning our days. Maybe we will learn to appreciate the simple pleasures of life - a blue sky, a fresh croissant, a pretty flower blooming in the wall . In some ways we can enjoy the freedom of having no pressure to go anywhere or carry out specific tasks.
When lock down ends we will be ready to go that's for sure.
The same sentiment is expressed in the Bible :" Take no thought for the morrow. The morrow will take care of itself." ( Matthew 6 : 34 )
The same thought , " Be present in all things and thankful for all things" was advocated by the American writer Maya Angelou.
The mountains will always be here.
The problem is that as human beings we are usually thinking about the future in the short or long term. In many ways this is essential in order to live our lives on a practical level. We have to assess what we need before going shopping for food and household necessities. Then if we take medication we 'll need to organise supplies. That applies now in this period of lockdown just as it always has.
What's missing now in this time of Covid 19 is the pleasure we get from planning and then taking part in planning social interactions. Whether it is arranging to meet friends , the when and the where, or attending group meetings or classes if that's what we do. I'm writing here as a retired person so not considering at all the wider context of those who are working or attending school or college.
In 2020 we do have the great advantage of communication by all the electronic means now available to us . Most of us make use of e mail , text and phone ,which means for the younger generation mobile phone ; landlines to them are a thing of the past. WhatsApp has come to the fore and there is still Skype. The new boy on the block is Zoom , well new to me anyway , and this is becoming the method of choice to keep in touch with close friends and family . These means of keeping in touch without being physically present are random in that generally we do not know when they will happen. Yesterday for instance I had a phone call from my cousin which lasted one hour. But I didn't know beforehand that it was going to happen so there was no planning was required on my part. Zoom is the exception because a specific date and time has to be pre arranged by the participants. It is seen as a virtual meeting and it can be anticipated as well as experienced at the time.
In terms of our mental wellbeing we like certainty I think .The pandemic has shown us very clearly that life is precarious. People who appeared well have been laid low very quickly by Covid 19 and many thousands have been killed by this insidious disease. The idea that the virus is in the community around us and that if we come up against someone who is infectious then we ourselves could succumb to it is a frightening one. It means that we have lost an element of control over our lives. However unless we are in a vulnerable category we have to take our chances and continue to go out into the world in a limited way.
There are , however , very few places that we can go to as only a limited selection of shops are open though some changes are happening notably the return of garden centres. The big gap in our lives is still the absence of cafes which really were at the heart of social life in the U.K. And of course cinemas, music venues, pubs and clubs.
What about getting away from our home environment ? That's where uncertainty is the key word. With closed borders, struggling and defunct airlines and closure of transport links in general, the prospects of travelling far afield look very weak.
We like to plan as a means of reassuring ourselves that life will continue. When life is problematic or even just dull and routine we can if we are fortunate to have the means to do so, plan holidays, short or long then spend the months beforehand in looking forward, making specific arrangements or researching our destination. All that is on hold at present .
When lock down ends we will be ready to go that's for sure.
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