Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq
The cruising altitude of the latest Covid-19 fear has induced gut-wrenching horror. It has inevitably, yet conveniently stirred a whirlwind of emotions in us all. While we all await our mysterious destiny trying to stay positive as we work from home or make arrangements otherwise to remain productive and relevant, we need to take a few moments for a conscious reflection. We need to halt our mundane routine and regimental thought processes and need to assess our regimes, our purposes and our well-being. It all calls for a comprehensive reflection that entails embracing the lessons we are fortunate to postulate these days when time is actually on our surplus commodity, and planning to do the most with it is literally in our hands, home, head and heart.
While we are at it, this inexorable break that we are encountering, is unveiling significant realities of our lives, thereby making us unsurprisingly realize the connotation of multitudinous gifts that surround us. We will find us unraveling the forces of nature that supersede human powers, confronting us with our preparedness for the future on many levels. We will learn how the gravity of such pandemics can uproot the firmest of footings of nuclear powers and strangle the very jugular of the human body – pun intended, revealing our capabilities and vulnerabilities in situation such as the prevalent. If we mediate deeper, we will realize that his particular pandemic is not at all a coincidence, it has most definitely been an organic imposition by nature for us to shake the very existence of ourselves to comprehend the bigger picture, the greater purpose we all have gone astray ourselves from in search of self-satisfying entitlements. We need to dig deeper and connect with our souls, or like I always say, our heart needs to be in the right place.
What we effortlessly evaded is the fact that nature made its punctuated attempts at waking us up from the ever-so-engaging slumber, ruled by self-pleasing and appealing dreams that we kept putting off the call of our true purpose. Organically, when the global pandemic opened our eyes, we came abreast with all that that can be lost, all that we kept putting off for a later date, perhaps, all that could have been done – all that had to be done. We were shaken to the core about our plans that we prearranged on a day we hardly knew we would even survive to actually live. It was a solemn revelation to us how realistic forecasts could be affected by such high unaccounted provision risks, possibilities that shall surpass the inherent risks evaluated by experts. Evidently, nature opened our sight to the bigger picture, all that we kept taking for granted.
The imposed break by the nature has allowed Earth to breathe and make man face the irony of being the metaphorical virus to the planet. This is undeniably the time when nature rung the much needed admonishing bell to wake us all up and direct us to reflect and redress yet again, an attempt to make us act like the superior beings that God made us. Beings that were to nurture the nature not exploit it.
It about time we started acknowledging what we have, be content and move on to value and sustain it all while we build-on to make it greater. Here are a few thought on what needs to be done; 1. We need to surround ourselves with an empathetic attitude to value ourselves to begin with, moving on to our families and to society by and large 2. We need to move on and appreciate the privilege of having relationships and families that really matter 3. We need to unknit the tangled thoughts about people and be accepting of everyone’s point of view with diversity and difference 4. We need to rid ourselves of the pre-conceived notions, confirmation biases and self-satisfying concepts to build a newer, clearer vision and act with open mindedness, inclusivity and empathy 5. We need to value time and weigh its ticking with every opportunity to be of advantage to others and be conscious of our moral responsibilities for the greater good, for the world 6. We need to appreciate the meticulous fabric of humanity that weaves us together and collaborate to strengthen our bond beyond all borders – be them self-inhibiting, ecological or geographical 7. Just like we advocate connectivity, creativity, communication and collaboration in education today, we need to practically adopt the 4Cs in our lives and be the living examples of educated human beings who serve and thrive on substantial purposes.
It is about time we rose above and beyond and spread positivity besides statistically depressing news of the pandemic. Let us work for the future, identical to what we always have been executing in selfless commitment to teaching and learning. Let us join hands in solidarity with the purpose of being resourceful to all around us. Let us walk the marathon for a secure and healthier tomorrow. Let us sail the high tides of the prevalent challenge to rise stronger for our families, our society, and our world.
Quoting Thomas Reid: ‘A chain is as strong as its weakest link’, it is as irrevocably as it can be, the time to set differences aside and be purposeful for humanity. Let us not compromise our values, morals, beliefs and intentions to weaken as a human soul and be more aware of what is and what can be and prepared for an infallible plan. Let us all pledge to be a source of utmost strength to this chain of humanity by playing our part in valuing what we have, sustaining what are blessed with, nurturing what we possess and be a source of preservation to our relationships, our homes, our societies, our communities, and our planet!
Let us all flatten the curve of all that affects us negatively and escalate positivity, empathy, connectivity, gratitude, compassion, productivity, and above all humanity. It’s time we must ‘nurture’ the best gift of ‘nature’ called ‘life’ itself, as we need to revisit and rewrite our social contract with our families, communities, society and humanity at large to build an informed, sustained and an inclusive world for the better.
— (The writer is a globally celebrated educationist, a former minister and recognized as 500 Influential Muslims of the world. He can be reached at Twitter @FaisalMushtaq18).
