COVID-19: The Keshav Way
This global pandemic will have stirred countless emotions and feelings within you. A lot of these will be negative. Focussing on these negative emotions is equivalent to digging a hole yourself, and then jumping into it. Most importantly, during this crisis you must control your mind, through controlling your thoughts.
In his principle scripture called the Vachanamrut, Bhagwan Shri Swaminarayan says:
Jitam Jagat Kena Mano Hi Yena ||
One who conquers his mind, has conquered the world.
The importance of learning how the mind works, and how you can harness its true potential is so important, now more than ever. You will have surely learnt from this pandemic that your mind can either be your greatest friend or, become your biggest enemy. Your surroundings greatly affect your thoughts, feelings, and your overall mindset.
Fear, worry, anxiety, and stress can all be overcome simply by conquering your mind. This is what I show in The Keshav Way.
A Time to Change
This is the best time for you to do something different. How you come out of this pandemic will shape you. Ten years from now, when your children ask you what you did during the 2020 pandemic, what will you answer?
Across the globe, quarantines and lockdowns are still being enforced, with people being encouraged or instructed to stay at home. Although this may seem like a burden, why not see it is an opportunity for your own growth? By shifting your perspective in this way, you can transform how you approach this crisis, and how you come out of it.
Before you decide what you want to do, it is prudent that you start with your mind. Get your state of mind right to begin with. You can’t make the most of this time and grow if your mind is going haywire. How can you maximise this time at home to create change and grow within?
Ask yourself questions like, ‘What is something that I have always wanted to do, but haven’t had the time to do yet?’ It could be learning to cook, taking online courses, learning an instrument, or even focussing on your personal or spiritual development.
Maybe you have always wanted to do a house clean, but hadn’t got round to it. It may seem simple, but sitting around and doing nothing is much worse.
Start by making a list of three things you have been wanting to do but have not yet done. Then, try get them done in the next month.
Shifting your Perspective
The best way to shift your perspective is to adopt the attitude of gratitude. Start by developing a regular routine of expressing gratitude. Routines calm your mind that normally runs on instinct, like fear.
An ongoing study suggests that materialistic strivings have been implicated as a major cause of unhappiness. Whereas, gratitude — both in its manifestations as a chronic affective trait and as a more temporary emotional experience — could be a major cause of happiness.
When you develop a sense of gratitude for what you have, your entire perspective changes on everything — us and everything around us. Don’t focus on what you don’t have, start focussing on the abundance of everything that you do have. This allows you to view everything from a higher state of mind, empowering you to make better decisions in handling not just this crisis, but in our future life after this too.
Gratitude is the attitude which gives us the fortitude to deal with the toughest challenges in our lives.
Every morning, start by writing down three things that you’re greateful about. You must be specific. Do this for 31 days, and see yourself change.
In The Joy of Others
Naturally you tend to focus on your inconveniences and troubles, especially in times like this. You can overcome this tendency by performing actions that help others. Making a difference in someone else’s life, you can not only uplift the positivity of that person, but your own too.
As important as it is to focus on yourself during this crisis, we must remember the countless brave individuals risking their lives in selfless service to save lives, whilst we are fortunate to stay at home. That is gratitude once again.
You have to ask yourself:
How can I make a positive difference?
How can I help others?
How can I serve others?
Where there is a will, there is way. If you truly want to help others, you will find a way to do so. I know it may seem difficult when you are stuck at home and can’t meet other people, but why not try some of the below ways.
- Call your loved ones and check in with them. Of course, you can always text them. but sometimes a touching voice, or a friendly face can lighten up someone’s mood a whole lot more. I’ve reached out to a number of individuals myself, and this has lifted my mood and brought a sense of positivity to me as well.
- Check in with your neighbours, especially the elderly and vulnerable in your area. Someone may need help, but they won’t ask. Lending an ear to someone, hearing others out is important. Often, thesepeople don’t have anyone to talk to. Why don’t you take the first step?
- Volunteer. Giving your time for others is an extraordinary form of selfless service. This doesn’t mean you just have to volunteer for the frontline or the likes. You can volunteer by offering your help, and also utilise your skills and time.
Be the positive force during this crisis, and make a difference to the lives of others. Every day, make it a point to bring a smile to one person and serve them selflessly in some way or othe other.
Fear and Worry
The feeling and experience of fear is natural during times like this. But by trying to understand the mind and fear, you can significantly reduce how we experience fear in your day-to-day life.
Similar to worry, fear is the result of our mind wandering into the future, creating something that hasn’t even happened, and returning to the present to fear it. It is one of the worst parts of your mind, and leads to the pool of negative emotions.
Fear is powerfully magnetic. It forms part of the instinct area of the mind, and is directly tied to your physical body and senses. It is your responsibility to actively ensure that your mind doesn’t wander into the future, and keep it in the present. If you feel that there is a strong possibility of your fear becoming a reality, do what you need to in order to prevent it from happening.
Shri Vasudev Krishna says:
Every time we experience fear, we must remember that at the same time there is something fearless inside us too.
Whenever you doubt, a part of you is doubtless. When you are sad, a part of you that is still happy. This is important to understand.
Write down your fears on a piece of paper, scrunch the piece of paper and throw it in the bin. Or, write it down, and read it back to you — make yourself fearless by affirming you can overcome it, or that it won’t manifest.
These are small but important steps to begin to harness the power of your mind. Especially during this unprecedented time of uncertainty and struggle. My deepest prayers that you and I, in fact all of us, are all able to come out the other side - not bitter, but better.
