“God, please help me see through this dark period. If I survive, I won’t ask for anything more. I will always be grateful and remain contented.”
Have you experienced such feelings? Okay, maybe not these exact words, but you get the drift.
I know many who felt along these lines in the summer of 2021 when the Coronavirus caused havoc in much of India, leaving no available hospital beds.
I was scared. No, wait, make that petrified.
During that period, someone you knew passed away almost daily – a family member, friend, colleague, neighbour, or acquaintance.
I had never felt so helpless.
Some of you who felt similarly will remember how you were scared out of your wits when the death count kept rising. You were grateful to experience all five senses, live, and enjoy life’s small pleasures.
The Fleeting Effect Of A Crisis
You told yourself (and maybe a few others) that if you beat the virus, you will turn a new leaf. And you did for a few days. Once the health crisis receded, you were back to square one.
This is how we are. We make such promises when confronted with a life-threatening or debilitating disease, financial crisis, or any other situation where things are out of our control. And then we break them at the first available opportunity.
We return to our daily grind, and the usual cycle of comparison, expectation, greed, jealousy, and despair kicks in, just like how we were before the crisis.
“He’s got this; why haven’t I?”
“She enjoys such comforts; why don’t I?”
“Why do good things happen to them and not us?”
These thoughts begin to fester once the crisis is behind us.
How do we change so fast and forget so easily?
While it takes a crisis to humanise us, the effect does not last long once the crisis is out of the way.
Some do change for the better.
“Any deep crisis is an opportunity to make your life extraordinary in some way”
— Martha Beck
Why wait for a crisis to become a better version of yourself? Why not proactively change? But how?
Consider these simple steps:
10 Practical Ways to Make Your Life Better
- Start by being more mindful of your thoughts, words and actions. Don’t let them cause grief or hurt others around you. Think before you speak, act.
- Practise gratitude for what you have instead of focusing on what you lack. Look at the glass half full. There is much to be grateful for. Think of those who have far less and are still so happy.
- Celebrate the achievements of others instead of feeling envious or inferior. If you can feel or show happiness in the success of others, it is not just good for you; your positivism could also be infectious to others around you.
- Spend quality time with those you love, and make every moment count with them. Don’t put it off for the future. You may not get a chance.
- Cultivate positive habits that enrich your lives instead of wasting time on distractions. Time is finite; use it wisely to make your and the lives of those around you better.
- Seek help when needed instead of suffering in silence. Don’t bottle your emotions within you. Express it by speaking, writing or seeking counsel. You will feel much lighter.
- Learn from your mistakes instead of repeating them. We all make mistakes but the wise use them as a learning opportunity.
- Embrace change instead of resisting it. As humans, we are naturally resistant to change arising from a sense of discomfort. Be open to change. Try it.
- Live in the present instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Be fully present in the present. That’s when you will make the most of it.
- Make every day a new opportunity to grow, learn and improve. You will earn compounded returns in the future.
None of these are difficult things to do. Each one of us can practise these in our daily life.
What does it take to change?
All we need is the will to do and the conviction to stay with it. Start by making a few adjustments in your internal settings, and you are good to go.
Any progress is good. You need to bear in mind what the Tibetan spiritual reader said:
“The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self”
— The Dalai Lama
It is really that simple 😊
So, what are you waiting for?
Start today and be a better version of yourself.
