We continue with the second part of Veronica Alonso’s reflection this Sunday on choosing how I want to live life after the great pause. If you did not read the previous article don’t miss the opportunity.
Today I have the opportunity to choose how I want to live my post coronavirus life. I can decide the type of person I want to be. I can choose the priorities that I want to have in my life. I’m going to carry on the reflection I began in the previous article and I invite you to do the same.
Right now I’m following the rules and measures that have been introduced. I stay at home not just for my own good, but also (and above all) for the good of others. We are a body and we affect each other. I know that my lack of collaboration, my negligence, can have dire consequences.
When this is all over, will I still be concerned about caring for the lives of others or will I focus on my well-being and personal interests again? Will I take care of the environment, the common home? Will I be attentive to the needs of those around me? Will I still care if my elderly neighbour needs something? Will I go down the street with my eyes open to discovering what others are going through, or will I continue travelling on the underground, with my headphones on, without seeing or hearing those around me?
Will I continue to cultivate the bonds of friendships that are so important? Will I find time to call a childhood friend, my neighbour, my aunt … or will I return to a frenetic pace governed by what is instant, what yields results or by a full diary?
Will we continue to clap all the people who live in service, in the humblest of jobs, from the gates of our souls or will we take so many daily heroic acts for granted? Will we value the people who risk their lives without putting on airs, or will we put the stars and those who shine on a pedestal again?
Will we continue to worry that there are people who do not have the resources to come through this situation because they survive on a day to day basis? And what will it mean that we care? What will that change specifically in me? Will I let it determine my life choices; both those that have to do with the fight for a fairer and more humane world and those small day to day options? Will I also let it affect my personal account, my expenses, and how I want to distribute my goods?
I know that changes and improvements will not happen in a moment of collective euphoria, but in the silence of my heart, where I discover that I am free and that I can choose what I want to live.
My transformation will most likely be slow (like the gradual transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly inside the cocoon), but at least it will be a consciously wanted one, in which I actively collaborate.
Today I have the opportunity to choose how I want to live my post coronavirus life. I can decide the type of person I want to be. I can choose the priorities that I want to have in my life. Today I can decide if I want to live or if, instead, I want to spend my time entertained by what seems best to others. I want to live. What about you?
Veronica Alonso