A Different Perspective on the Coronavirus

"Appreciate what you have, while you have it, or you'll learn what it meant to you after you lose it." - Frank Sonnenberg

It's hard to believe a year has gone by since I last posted this message. It still applies today, and serves as a great reminder for us all to continue to learn & develop from the past; work hard to create a better future; and live in the moment to make the most of today! 

Here is an interesting way to look at the Coronavirus, and it really makes you stop and think differently. We must never forget: 

Mankind got the disease it needed…

• We stopped looking after our health, so we became sick with a pandemic disease that made us realize what was most important in our lives.
• We no longer appreciated nature, so we became ill with a disease that made us realize how valuable it really is to be out in nature.
• We stopped paying enough attention to our families, so the disease locked us in our homes to teach us a lesson how to function as a family again.
• We stopped appreciating the elderly and the sick, and this disease came up to remind us how vulnerable they are.
• We stopped appreciating healthcare professionals, pharmacists and people who fight to protect us to keep us safe and healthy, and we got a disease to remind us how irreplaceable they are.
• We stopped respecting our teachers, and the disease closed our schools so parents could try on their own to find out how hard the role of a teacher is.
• We thought we could do anything, at anytime, anywhere, with anyone. So we got this disease to realize that nothing is to be taken for granted.
• We thought we could buy anything. Greed confused our minds, and we spend most of our free time shopping in malls, so we got a disease that blocked us at home in order to realize that we couldn't buy our happiness.
• We paid a lot of attention to our appearance and competed with each other and therefore we got a disease that made use put a mask on our faces to understand that beauty is not something external.
• We thought we were rulers of this Earth, so we got sick by something so tiny we couldn't even see it.
• And this is to give us a lesson and to teach a little bit of humility.  This illness takes a lot from us, but it also gives us the opportunity to learn so much from it, and to understand what is most important in life.

It seems like it is an innate human quality to take things for granted. Especially some of the things that should be most important to us, like our health, our environment and the people who are important in our lives.  I think that some of this comes from us thinking that those things will always be consistent, and always be there in our lives when we need them.  

One of the best way to be positive and happy in your day-to-day life is to approach everything with an appreciative and grateful place.  Be truly present in the moment and aware of the things around you. Stop and reflect from time to time about your day and recognize the things you might be taking for granted, right now.  Write down some of the things that you are grateful for. Count your blessings. Be more concerned with how you are making others feel. Tell someone that you appreciate them, or love them. Give thanks.

Life is short. Life is valuable. Life can change in an instant. Don't take anything or anyone for granted. Cherish your relationships with family, friends and co-workers.  Be courteous and kind to one another. Practice intentional acts of kindness. Carry an attitude of gratitude in all you do.  Be good, do good.  Live with purpose, and on purpose. Live with passion and compassion. Be present and live in the now.  Make the rest of your life, the best of your life!

Learn to appreciate what you have, before time and circumstances make you appreciate what you had.

Make today great!

Curtis

"Happiness isn't something you should take for granted. It should be savored, because you don't know what tomorrow will bring." - Alisha Rai