We talk of times when things were different from today’s scenario - of times when each one of us experienced freedom- freedom to move, freedom to work, freedom to indulge in recreational activities, freedom to visit our family & friends , freedom to socialise, freedom to go to gym, freedom to eat what we desired….and the list is endless. 

But then the world was in the clutches of COVID – 19 and everything vanished. Are we responsible for it? Each one of us will come up with the same answer - NO. But, are we not in one way or the other responsible? Let’s introspect:

· We always want more than the other.

· We are more into materialistic pleasure than spiritual.

· We, at times, feel alienated when our friends suffer loss.

· We feel that it is our right to exploit what we have.

· We, in our heart, wish to do better than our best friend.

· We all love to preach but do not follow what we preach.

· We look at others to do things for us, help us when we need their help but we have our priorities

when others need us.

· We try to win by simply letting the other person down.

· We, in order to outshine in our workplace, backstab our colleagues.

· We love to blame others.

· We all wish to be in a position of authority where we can dictate terms to others and others work according to our whims and fancies.

In short, we are all self obsessed. We look for our own interests and benefits. We cannot choose certain things in our life like our looks, our neighbours, our parents and our siblings. But what we can choose is our thoughts, words and actions. If we watch our thoughts, our words will automatically be checked and so would our actions. Why not take out time to introspect and focus on the above to be a better human being? In this time of COVID let us look for all those things which we had ignored in our busy lifestyle. Things like the chirping of the birds, the cool rising sun, the soft cool breeze, the mystic sound of the squirrel, the fresh air, less pollution and the deserted streets with a lot of people on bicycles than on motor vehicles. 

Life is interwoven – it has its pros and cons, ups and downs. We never sail through happy times always. But it takes a person of character to sail smoothly in the times of upheaval. In the words of Lou Holts, “Life is ten percent of what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond.” Our thoughts and our actions decide the course of our life. If you dream of  appiness for yourself, simply make people around you happy and comfortable, you will find your source of happiness therein.

Now is the time to introspect and be proactive about creating small moments of happiness in our lives. There are a few silver linings, which can potentially change our brain chemistry and build our energy stores to cope up with our day to day aspects that have been difficult to deal with.

· Look for good in others – everyone is born with at least one quality, try to look for it.

· Strengthen your connections with your family. Infact, we are always preoccupied with one thing or the other but now we have the time to spend it qualitatively with our near and dear ones.

· Admire beauty in and around.

· Savour the small moments.

· Develop a hobby.

· Do the things you love to do, even if it is living life at ease.

· Take charge of your mental health and your physical health will follow suit.

· Take pleasure in helping others.

· Use positive affirmations.

· Visualise your success. Keep working towards your goal.

· Practice random acts of kindness.

Be deliberate in activities which are heart-warming, positive and laughter inducing. Together, we will get through this.