COVID-19, The Perfect Excuse
The pandemic is a powerful excuse but too cheap to reflect our true values. Here are 3 reasons to stay committed when we don't feel like it.
It’s too easy to put on COVID-19’s shoulders the weight and the blame for all of our withdrawals.
The world has never been as perfect as our Instagram filters. The cancellation of some of our commitments, because of the circumstances, can be understood, but not in all cases. And it is not always the fault of the coronavirus.
We, Homo Adaptus
Circumstances have always been what they were. Yet we had ever learned to deal with the hugs and the surprise punches of reality. Admittedly, COVID-19 have replayed all the cards. The consequences can be radical, and the risks incalculable. We almost always navigate by sight in these exceptional conditions.
Fortunately, our ingenuity has not evaporated. The possibilities of adaptation are still available to us. They will not be dictated to us. They will only emerge in the strength of our initiatives and our implications.
It is a Common Struggle
Everything is moving around us. We are not alone in feeling dizzy. Other people, other institutions have found new formulas to overcome the challenges of this challenging time. Some may have been in even more risky situations than we have been. If we stick to our goals and commitments, we can learn a lot from these others, from their methods and attitudes. Not to follow them blindly in the face of our own responsibilities. Not, either, to save face. But instead to participate in the joint effort of recovery. Because every recovery effort can inspire others. And every gesture of slackness on the part of one is an invitation to slacken to others.
More than it seems, we find ourselves each in a position to make a difference, our difference. But we lose some of that permission to contribute every time we hide behind the invincible alibi of COVID-19 to excuse our failures. The pandemic is a powerful excuse but too cheap to reflect our true values.
The world will not wait for us
Of course, we are not all in the same circumstances. The shock of COVID-19 is not the best-shared thing in the world. As in any crisis, there are victims and victims. Some of us are more affected than others. So, we may well find ourselves in the circumstances more disadvantageous than bearable. In that case, it is reasonable to cancel the commitments that we can no longer keep. That is not abduction.
But if possible, we would make this pause quickly: we will not drag into our break because the world will not wait for us. The world will not stop while we are gone. It will wait for us to board before continuing on its way. In our retreat, we will simmer our return like an insurrection — a more prepared Rebound. If we ever have to, we should run faster than before, take the front even, and anticipate the bus route to get back in time, with a better idea of the path to take. We had learned to observe the vital signs during our retreat and read the detours on the map leading to our destination.
The world will gain more from our participation if it comes from our convictions, instead of our ignorance. The world will gain from our retreat if it is thoughtful and not cowardly. The world will gain even more from our return if it is enlightened and not blind.
There is no need to start a competition to find among us the greatest victims. The world will not gain from seeing us diminished by circumstances but transformed by the experiences and lessons provided by this crisis.