My mother was an astrologer who would talk about your past lives based on what she saw in your star chart. Some, but not all of us, had past lives. What we don't learn in our present life, we learn in a future life. Those of us who have had many past lives are "old souls." Merriam Webster agrees with my mother and offers a mouthful of a definition. Karma is "the force generated by a person's actions to perpetuate transmigration and its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence". Of course, we learn in our current life, as well. What we learn impacts our resilience and who we become. Those who experience hardship may learn how to feel prosperity.
How will people remember the covid threat in 2020, which caused us to be more isolated from other people?
I suspect many people will look back fondly to not commuting and will pine for the less complicated, more peaceful times of 2020. We got used to running to the store for the one item, waiting in line and rushing home to get the meal cooked. Now, we figure out how to get by without the garlic clove (until next week) and we have more time with our families. We have more time to think about what is important. For some, there was more time to process current events and political activities may have filled the void. Our pre-covid schedule may have been non-stop. Now we have time to consider the meaning of phrases such as "black lives matter."
As I child, I wished I could stay occupied with fun activities. Mainly, I wanted to play outside with kids my age. I was jealous of the children who could do this It seemed like many did this every night. It would have been nice to play baseball games since I was obsessed with baseball. But, what did the Little Leaguers miss out on? Maybe, they never learned how to spend time peacefully alone. Maybe, their feeling of normalcy requires others.
Dale Carnegie tells us that staying busy is the key to happiness. If we are always running to the store, we don't have time to consider what we might be missing. That is one way to stay happy. If we are always busy, we have less time to worry. This is the "normal" that many seem to be missing.
But, we have to stay busy, don't we? If we stop moving, our lawns won't stay green and heaven forbid, we might live like the people on the poorer side of town. But, what can we learn about those who live across the railroad tracks?
Experiencing a touch of living on the poor side of town was an experience I had as a child, too. There were times my mother lived in apartments that were small and not the best. Roaches found us on occasion. But, it turned out we had fun anyway. As long as I was around people who loved me, I learned that where I was didn't matter.
My mother once wanted to live in a certain nice house. Once she could afford it, she changed her mind. It turns out she was happy in the smaller house where she spent the rest of her life. (The cockroaches had disappeared after the opening from the outside to the kitchen was discovered, too.)
My greatest suffering was as a child when my parents divorced. My sister and I just got to see my mother one weekend per month. Where she lived and whether she had money turned out to not bother me. My happiest memories are visiting her as a child.
I learned as a child that where you live or whether you spend money might not make you happy or sad. Who you are around is far more important. To learn this required experiencing loneliness and a touch of hardship that I notice others fear. My learnings, my karma, tell me to appreciate the people I love. (Maybe, I could do that better.)
My mother based on the astrology charts told me I was an "old soul." If I am an old soul, it allowed me to learn one important thing. Appreciate those who love you and those who you are with. They are most important. Yes, covid-19 causes me to miss out on certain things-- no shows at the Turf Club or Schooner, no baseball games to visit by train and no trips to Hawaii or Shanghai. But, I have what is most important to me. I am blessed.
My wife asks, "What is normal?" What is it that people want back in their lives after a hospital stay or pandemic?
What I want is mostly what I have. My childhood experiences and childhood learnings, or maybe it is karma, taught me how to be happy alone, and taught me to appreciate people around me whom I love. I don't miss spending time at the mall. In times that are tough for most, I feel great prosperity.
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