IN the past weeks, news media reported a new variant of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, sending people back on to a roller-coaster of terror and anxiety, while other variants are still thriving in the background.
The new variant raises these questions: Are people more at risk for getting sick? Will the Covid-19 vaccines still work? Are there new or different things you should do now to stay safe?
Eight notable variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been found since September 2020. And this is not the end, health experts around the world say.
With the need to travel, I opted for a booster dose so that I can travel with some peace.
Uncertainties are plentiful and endless and, in the meantime, people are affected in a great many ways, each worried about his backyard.
School children are nervous about their education and examinations, while working adults are troubled if the promotion they had been waiting for all their life would be missed.
Job seekers are frustrated with nothing moving beyond the applications.
The seniors have worries of a different kind, their very lives seem to be extending day to day in a bubble, as they are the most at risk from the pandemic.
In this rather complex scenario, people’s preferences have changed and so have their outlook about life and existence.
Some are taking it easy, in fact some developed countries have reported that mass resignations are rampant and people are not returning to work post-pandemic.
I was talking to a group of young adults who had, what may seem like regular questions, but with no simple answers.
Why are some people able to keep soaring in their life while others find it a daily struggle? Is it some kind of magic or miracle that happens only to some people?
While we know the answer is a big no, when things go the wrong way all the time we allow our mind into the trodden path and fall into the trap of feeling sorry for ourselves.
We forget that success is not about reaching the destination, it is being able to get up and go every time you fall.
Renowned writer and author Shiv Khera in his book You Can Win says achievement and success are science and he goes a step further comparing it to religion.
It requires that you believe, like you do when you belong to a certain faith. When failure is inevitable, success is the product of bouncing back from failure, not avoiding it.
While there is a systematic approach to success there is no ready recipe to achieving, it is a process.
There is a much more important element that has colossal influence on success and that is attitude.
Positive thinking and negative thinking are both matters of attitude and so are powerful mindsets that shape how individuals see the world.
It is equally applicable to organisations which consider the culture of a business measured only by revenue, wages and work environment.
In fact, emotions, attitudes and relationships are just as important.
We cannot control our situations but it is the attitude which is within us to manage.
The process of nurturing a positive attitude begins by accepting that attitude is a decision that unfolds every day and it gives us new opportunities to change that losing and bad attitude. A bad attitude is a choice, one that can be reversed.
Attitudes play at the mind level and you are the steward of your mind and can choose to keep bad attitudes at bay.
The mind is like a garden and you are the gardener, and you can choose to debug your mind and remove unwanted thoughts that interfere with you adopting the right attitude.
Plant seeds that empower you to grow into positivity and spread this age-old wisdom to people around you. One does not need to be a sage to do this.
Our mind can drag us to a crawl and even sink us in the mud and quicksand of our self-limiting doubts, fears and anger.
Positive attitude is a weapon, an arsenal to be stored and used to charge us up when things don’t go right.
Keeping the attitude positive and the mind calm is a great achievement in life and all it takes is conscious effort and mindfulness.
Comment: letters@thesundaily.com
