Is pandemic and isolation a disaster or a tempting possibility?

From our experience in life, it is natural to view the coronavirus pandemic, a disease that now threatens the entire world, as a disaster that destroys our way of life. We see only negative consequences in the current situation because we have never seen lasting positive change in our lives. It seems that the good times are ending and everything eventually degenerates and disintegrates.

We are born and enjoy a brief period of youth full of hope, only to realize that we are trapped in a vicious cycle of problems, disappointments and illnesses that last until death. As we observe human behavior and study human history, we see that everyone in the world acts according to self-interest, which inevitably leads to bad consequences. And so logic compels us to agree with the negative forecast.

Viewed through an egocentric prism, the default attitude toward virus and self-isolation is understandably grim. And the media is counting the number of infected and dead people. While we sit around worrying about not finding a vaccine and worrying about a deep downturn in the economy, how many good things are we missing out on?

We are like children who see the actions of loving parents who limit their ability to harm themselves or others as punishment. Our view of reality is limited to seeing only the medical consequences of the coronavirus and does not allow us to see the opportunities that the Covid-19 pandemic offers us and the benefits derived from those opportunities.

However, it is through the disruption of habitual patterns that we gain new vision and an increased ability to comprehend an integral picture of being. Well-being is an active process of awareness and decision-making about the healthy and fulfilling life that can emerge from this seeming disaster.

This time of anxious waiting, imposed by the pandemic, will allow us to enter into a dynamic process of change and growth. We now have an opportunity to identify human selfishness as the root cause of diseases of mind, body and spirit and to devise more effective strategies to change our lives so that people can flourish and realize their highest potential.

The coronavirus pandemic has leveled us all and brought us to the brink of serious change. Shared pain has clarified our vision, softened our hearts, and led us to the greatest evolutionary leap of all. A collective stop in the race of life gave us the opportunity to carefully weigh our options and make the right choices.

Will we resemble the stubborn child who learns his lessons only through bitter experience, and will we instinctively choose short-sighted solutions that merely mask the symptoms of humanity’s illness? Will we rush back to live the same reckless unhealthy lifestyle until we have another relapse? Or will we actively focus on the prevention of such tragic events and increase our resilience by aiming for a life of health and well-being?

After all, according to the WHO definition, health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being,” not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.