COVID-19 can be an Opportunity!

I've been teaching myself about EQ and empathy for a while now (my journey started just about here) and it's amazing how everything can be tied to these 2 phenomenal concepts that, in my opinion, are foundations of human nature (treat others the way you'd like to be treated). While digging a little deeper into empathy, I discovered how empathy, while it can be innate, can also be taught. There has been several studies conducted around "teaching" empathy - research shows, for example, that physicians, whose jobs are usually reliant on practicality, can be taught empathy. Interestingly, their increased empathy has led to an increase in patient satisfaction!

Current situation in this world, the COVID-19 attack has gotten me thinking a lot about empathy lately. Every single person in this world at this time, including the kids, seem to be fighting a tougher battle than usual. My first week as a full-time working from home mom was quite a learning experience for me. I've been fighting silent battles all week, just like everyone else who is trying to figure out how best to keep all the balls that we are juggling, in the air. Everyone might be making a mental or possible, physical note for themselves, from what worked for them and their loved ones around them, and what didn't. We might have been make tweaks to our routines as often as every day, while trying to get used to this new schedule until the world is declared a safe place again. My 8-year old once caught me running around with my headphones on, while getting his milk and breakfast ready. I hadn't even realized until he said "Mom, how do you manage to do both?" And I took a minute to give myself kudos for giving my complete attention to the call that I was on and at the same time, not sacrificing my son's routine! At various other times, I've felt like a lost momma, who was taking circles around my kitchen with a spoon in my hand, not knowing what it was for. I've made several trips upstairs and downstairs in my home, forgetting why I was there in the first place.

One of my all-time favorite scenes in a movie is from Evan Almighty where Evan's wife, Joan Baxter, is at a restaurant and run's into God (she, of course, does not know that He is God). A little background for those who'd like to recollect or have not watched the movie - in the movie, Joan always prays to God for her family to be closer. Here is what He has to say to her -

I am absolutely in awe of this scene! I've borrowed/used this expression in my life during numerous occasions and it has immensely helped me, my family, and my friends who I've shared this with. If you pray to God for something, God does not give you that something, He gives you an opportunity to be/do something. How beautiful is this thought?!

So here are some of my thoughts, an attempt to built on your empathy, especially during these tough times around COVID-19 -

• Someone does not hold a door open for you at a restaurant carry out or a medical facility, they might have lost their jobs recently and might be worried on how are they going to support their loved ones.
• Someone cuts in front of you in a grocery line. Maybe they are heavily relying on school/child care for meals and/or for them to excel at their jobs and now they are struggling to keep their heads above water... and they cut in front of you not even knowing that they did.
• We see overflowing grocery carts at checkout lanes and our first thought is, people are hoarding. Some definitely are but think about those people who are volunteering to help someone and maybe are shopping for multiple families at this time.
• A work from home employee has a child or pet(s) popping in and out of calls. Quite common. Laugh it off - they are trying their best to give their 100 percent.
• A friend does not return your call, call them! You might be doing a better job than them handling these uncertainties than they are.
• A family member is snippy?! They need your support now and might be more anxious than you are about your future.
• A child is extra cranky? This is a huge change for them. They do not see their friends for days, they miss their teachers, their favorite things to do in school/day cares, their routines, their play dates. My son complained yesterday, "Mom, I felt like I have been home for 1 million days". I promised him a drive to Costco in a day or two and that made him happy!

My 2 cents - the situation we are in now is being dealt by different individuals in various different ways. As Morgan Freeman said, God created this situation for us, human beings, to support and be kind to one another and to respect other forms of life. What an amazing opportunity to practice empathy! Empathy, in my opinion, is using my feelings in order to better understand other's feelings. Imagine living in a world where we might be able to use our feelings to help us in knowing a little bit of something what others are feeling even though we might not completely know how exactly they are feeling! :-)

Tying it all together - to all the folks who are working from home full-time, to the single parents trying to keep afloat, to all the medical staff who are at jobs so the rest of us can stay at home, to all the elderly who feel like they cannot go to the grocery stores as often as the others, to all those who lost their jobs because of this turbulence, to all those law enforcement officers who are asked to be extra vigilant - to each of us who are fighting a harder battle one way or the other. While doing your best in this chaos, take a moment to appreciate YOU and everything that YOU are doing to ensure your loved ones are safe. YOU ARE DOING AWESOME! WE ARE IN IT TOGETHER! THIS TOO SHALL PASS!

Stay safe, stay kind, be empathetic, y'all.