BAU – Business As Usual.
It’s tough to resume BAU with such a seismic incident affecting every element of life, work and everything.
There is a desperate need to see that light at the end of the tunnel, to see an end to this ‘prison’, this utter isolation and misery.
Self-isolation, staying home, restrictions to going out and living our life as ‘normal’ – it’s incredibly challenging.
But then, I hear about those in India, where lockdown on the 1.3 billion people was enacted suddenly, will impact so many millions of poor who are homeless, no access to running water to ‘wash their hands’, to keep clean, to feed themselves.
Even before this happened, suicide in India is already the number 1 killer for men aged between 15-39. India makes up 17% of the suicides reported worldwide every year.
That tells us how much people are already suffering, when they aren’t able to get through life, and when there is only one option open to them.
This disease will rip through the poor, the old, and especially the over-burdened healthcare and medical workforce. What and who will be left? And how will this change the world?
My #firstworldproblems – the luxury of being ‘isolated’ in the comfort of my home, with my family, my universe around me, with enough food to get by for a bit.
This in no way diminishes the very real anxiety that people feel, and I try hard to help my children frame the pandemic in an appropriate context.
However, it is not easy to explain how to be ok with the thought that an invisible enemy might snatch a loved one away, and while we can do everything to try and keep safe, healthy and protected, it might happen anyway.
This is affecting all of us – and we won’t return to BAU.
Ever.
What the world looks like ‘after this’, is anyone’s guess.
But I am going to do my damnest, to make sure that we don’t forget the lessons.
#bekind, #bebrave and always #practicegratitude