Life in the Time of COVID-19 — Reflections & Thoughts
The COVID lockdown enters its 30th day.
It’s a surreal time for all. The world changes with every hour, every new discovery as we all gaze into an uncertain future.
So many questions in all our minds. What will the aftermath of this catastrophic event leave? Will we live in some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland? Or will we take custody of a world that is somehow better with people who appreciate the planet more, and care for one another better? Will we be more appreciative of human interaction and the freedom so many of us are blessed with? Have we seen the worst of it pass, or is it looking over the horizon? Is it waiting to swallow the world in a cloud of death and economic catastrophe.
Regardless of what the future holds, and how long it may take, I believe we will recover, we will regain our lives, one crumbled piece at a time. We will rebuild and re-plan and progress. Human nature is such.
For me, the past 30 days have been a surprising discovery of self. Initially, I went through all the phases of grief and fear, like mourning the death of an old friend. My plans lay in shambles. My future was threatened, I worried for my family and the world, and I was gripped by a morbid fear of the unknown. It took a few days, but gradually a calm settled over me.
I thought of all the daily wage earners who would have no income to feed their families, no security of retirement funds and investments to tide them over, and the uncertainty of even meeting the basic requirements of life. I thought of the healthcare workers, risking their lives and those of their loved ones, to fight this pandemic and the security personnel working to maintain law and order and then I took stock of my situation. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my life and all I was blessed with. Firstly, my family and that I wouldn’t starve, and we had a home, and we were healthy. Once this sense of security sank in, I began to plan a routine around being healthy in my mind and body and being the best version of me, so that I could give my best in this situation.
I began waking up early, spending some time in reflection and attempting to meditate and still my mind. This gave me a sense of calm to face the day. I focused my mind on an image of a bright future that awaited us. One of security and good health and one of hope.
I would follow this by one hour of riding my bicycle that was hooked onto an indoor riding machine. Working up a good sweat in the morning felt cleansing and energizing. I followed this with some stretching and core work and a good long shower. I work during the mid-hours of the day. Then, once again in the evening, I do a fairly vigorous workout with some basic equipment I have at my home.
Working from home has now become the norm and I began my day of calls and reading mails in the comfort of my home with my two dogs by my side. Relaxed and focused, it helped me to be more productive, but I have to admit though that I struggled at the start. This was more as a result of not really knowing what to do and how to do it. I felt lost. I wasn’t sure what the right decisions were and how to meet the current challenge. I felt responsible for 16,000 lives of my fellow employees and wasn’t sure I was capable of steering this ship through these turbulent seas. Then I reflected on the words I have said to so many people, so many times before — “Anyone can run a company when everything is going well. The test of leadership is when things are not.”
Coming up with a plan during this time has been tough as the variables have been changing dramatically. We have a new reality almost every day; new challenges, new numbers to shoot for, and all this underlined by my desire to protect as many jobs as possible during this period. We started by breaking things into small simple chunks. Look at costs, look at what we can control, then work based on what we know here and now. Don’t get too hung up on the future. In a conversation with a friend, we discussed the balance between focusing on the here and now and planning for the future — 80% focus on the now, and surviving this the best we can, 20% looking out into the future and trying to predict and prepare ourselves for what awaits. As soon as we started to make plans and work on something tangible, I felt a new energy, a new drive and a new fight rise in me. I have always fared best when under pressure and I am confident this time too will prove that to be the case.
A few weeks ago, some of my colleagues began a WhatsApp group “Mission Slimpossible,” encouraging people to share their workouts and basically motivating each other to be healthy and fit. This has been a revelation with new challenges thrown out every day and a great sense of energy and support. People who were sedentary are encouraged to try working out, while those already reasonably fit being are being pushed to new highs. This is the new reality. The new social distanced norm. We will learn to use, to improvise and to use available technology to still be a community and team and still feel the sense of one.
This is much the same with my groups of friends. We meet for ‘drinks’ on Zoom. We discuss current issues we all face and try and help each other with solutions. We chat with family members in Sri Lanka and overseas, bringing them close on video chats. My family is spending more time together. Freed from our busy schedules, we are sitting around our pantry table and enjoying home cooked food, and conversations. We workout together, helping each other master new techniques. We enjoy each other’s company over conversations about everything from wildlife to current world politics. We are making jigsaw puzzles together, reading and watching movies. We are planning future trips and business ventures. Things that were rare before we were forced in to lockdown have now become the norm and I am loving a lot of it.
While I look at the positives of this, my heart goes out to all those on the frontlines fighting the spread of the virus and ensuring our protection. I have the same gratitude or more for them as I had for the armed forces that fought a 26-year war to free us from the grip of terrorism.
We are in a war. We are fighting for the survival of life as we knew it. We are fighting for the continuity of our businesses and our lifestyles and our hope and dreams. But in all this, let’s not forget to live. We will come out of this. Let’s make sure that each one of us, in our own little way, come out of it just a little better.
“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.” — From ‘Invictus’ by William Ernest Henley
