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Editor's Note: Roberto Rave is a political scientist with a postgraduate degree in international business and foreign trade from the Externado University of Colombia and the Columbia University of New York. With studies in Management from the IESE University of Spain and candidate for MBA from the University of Miami. He is a columnist for the Colombian economic newspaper La República. He was chosen by the International Republican Institute as one of the 40 most influential young leaders on the continent.
(CNN Spanish) - Fear takes over many of us, many families and our homes. How long ago we did not feel this fear? How long ago did we not reflect on the invisible closeness of death? All these questions make us think about what our legacy would be for humanity, for our family and friends. What would we leave to this ephemeral, almost virtual, fleeting world?
The time has come to stop, but not because we would have suddenly realized how quickly today's world moves (or moves us). The current situation forces us to reflect on the loneliness of our home, that loneliness that we avoid so much for the fear of finding ourselves, of facing our frivolous reality. The only palpable tools that we have before the physical and psychological confinement that can be desperate are those of hugging (whoever can), loving and understanding. Hug so tight, as if we had never hugged. Put the phone aside and ask, ironically after years of living together: How are you? - Yes. Although it sounds illogical, long ago we did not ask this - and realize that we have been one more victim, before the closure, of the vile rapidity of clicks and "likes", and we forgot the "I like ”that mattered most. In the words of Joseph Ratzinger: “I do not hesitate to affirm that the great illness of our time is its deficit in truth. Success, the result, has taken away the primacy everywhere. The renunciation of the truth and the flight towards group conformity are not a path to peace ”.
- OPINION | Ten spiritual tips to deal with the coronavirus crisis
Without delving into the well-known economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic, we have been forced to open that window that looks at an infinite world of opportunities to rethink ourselves humanely. Perhaps we have erred, focusing on the conception of material success, emptying of content the true human transcendence. The time has come to return to the essential, to restructure our scale of values, to confront our ephemeral dreams. As the philosopher Seneca said well: “Do you want to know what freedom is? Not to be a slave to anything, to any need, to chance. ”
Without further ado, I want in this article to propose a decalogue for these days of quarantine. Ever since I read chapter 42 of Don Quixote de la Mancha, I have been passionate about decalogues. Many of us will spend the next 15 days, perhaps more, between four walls with the full awareness that this situation has as its first measure to safeguard the health of our loved ones and emerge triumphant in the face of the unexpected pandemic. Next, the proposals that I built together with a friend who addresses these same concerns:
1. Maintain industry. Staying at home does not mean living in constant leisure. It is important to have a schedule, as if we were on a normal day.
2. Do not fall into mediocrity. That our personal presentation and our workplace are optimal and very similar to those of a normal situation, with more comfort, but without mediocrity.
3. Be efficient. Despite the fact that free time will be more frequent, try to carry out those duties and projects that we have put aside in the daily rush.
4. Help. In these times of valuing how little or how much we have, the night cannot come without having done something for others, without having helped with some work in our house or with our friends or acquaintances, even strangers.
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5. Be happy. Maintain joy and spread it to those who for any reason suffer the despair -normal- of the situation. The school where I studied has a motto that has always touched my heart: "Be happy to make others happy."
6. Exercise. Spend at least 30 minutes on physical activity.
7. Read. Set aside time for a reading that has to do with spiritual or human formation topics. These times are times of reflection.
8. Be thankful. The current circumstances show us the fragility of life. Let's not go to bed without saying goodbye and thanking the people we love the most. Also, these days make us more aware of the value of healthy sunrise. This is why there is no need to give thanks for a new day.
9. Have discipline. Let's respect sleep schedules. Let's not fall for the temptation of TV series and try to sleep well. Special recommendation: a brief 3-minute review of what our day was like, before going to bed, wouldn't hurt.
10. Love. Last but not least: to love our quarantine colleagues, to really love them.
covid-19