Lockdown!

Our President placed this country under lockdown as at midnight on Thursday, March 26th. 2020. And this was my take on the issue at that time:

The Family Scene

My immediate family, of which I am the oldest, consists of two children and five grandchildren. specifically, the family live in five different homes within a twenty five kilometer radius of one another.

‘Lockdown’ for me is a first-timer, never having experienced it before.

Growing up in the latter part of the great war and living in post war times was tough. Further, my father and three uncles were part of the war machine. As a result one uncle was killed and thankfully my father and two uncles came home to us.

I watched two sons conscripted into the war machine in the ‘80’s. Both came home alive, one was wounded and recovered physically, but never psychologically.

Thankfully my grandchildren have grown, one in his teens, four into their twenties. Two have university degrees and three are on their way; all have good homes.

Onset of Covid 19

At the onset of Covid-19, my grandchildren, faced with far greater media hype than I ever experienced, were placed in a situation of doubt and concern. Notwithstanding their access to information on the internet and research skills. They acquired these in the course of their education.

We parents are faced with both the concerns for our children and the economy of our country. Our Country has a population of fifty seven million souls. Six million of this number live in our city. We are concerned for our own small businesses, the livelihood of which supports our family. But our biggest concern is for the potential physical effects of the virus upon our population. Being  a third world country, we could not cope with a pandemic, like say, Italy!

Our Country

In this country, we have the best government since 1994. Our President and Minister of Finance are very capable men (my opinion). So, from a security and economic perspective we have a small chance.

The greater percentage of our people are not familiar with preventative measures that need to be applied. In addition our country has very limited medical resources to cope with the size of our population. “Solum habemus fide in Deum – In God alone we trust.”

Our government, businesses and many responsible people, seemed to have galvanized themselves into action.

How Can We Help?

My Grandchildren asked me what more could be done to help. I replied, following good hygienic preventative measures and obeying what our government has instructed.

What I told them was: we need to look in another direction. Into that lesser understood place within ourselves. That place from which we receive priceless advice, honest advice, advice we are able to rely on.

What is our First Reaction Normally?

When some traumatic event affecting our family, our community, country, the globe, our first turn is to fear. Fear of dying, losing a family member, relative, friend. Afraid of lack, of material loss, of unemployment, the list is endless. At this point we seek advice from wherever we can source it, reliable or otherwise. After which, we worry, even to the point of illness.

What Should We Do?

With any catastrophe there are certainly two issues that will arise in it’s wake, we:

• can do nothing to change the course of the catastrophe.
• are powerless to do anything about the (possibly major) changes that will take place in our lives.

It is imperative we accept the fact that the only place where we can make decisions affecting our future  is now. In this moment. The past is too late and the ‘future’, in reality, does not exist.

If we refuse to act in this moment now, after a night’s sleep, we will be in what we called ‘tomorrow and has become ‘now.’

My Fortunate Escape.

Where I was raised, there was a common saying, “Next year will be better.” I left that country eventually, not by choice. The decision I had to make was almost immediate and I realize now that it was made in a moment called now. That ‘now’ was made fifty years ago and I am so grateful that I made the move. since then I have watched that country fall lower than its knees. Laid waste by corrupt, greedy politicians.

Going Forward.

We consult our inner selves now and plan as to how we will live our lives.  Irrespective what our decisions are, this will  allow us to navigate from today’s now, onward.

It will allow us to plan ahead, because that is wise. Plan, building our life’s foundations on a solid rock now, not waiting for the elusive ‘tomorrow.’

It will allow us to live every moment of our lives in the now. Because neither the past nor the future exist – the only time is, now.

We have been given a lockdown; an opportunity to:

• Evaluate our relationships, spiritual and human.
• Find things for which we need to be grateful.
• Establish what is beneficial in our lives now and discard the unprofitable.
• Asses what we tolerate and get rid of what’s useless for us to tolerate.

This list is by no means exhaustive.

This moment NOW is where we have been offered a window of time to consider, what changes we can make. This must be done before changes, over which we have no control, move in first.

Don’t waste this space pondering on what could happen, just make it happen.

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