Think about others too

In the name of self-care, protecting our interests or not letting any person or thing, remotely influence our decisions or focus, we sometimes become selfish to the core. We begin to believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong in thinking that everything is about us. That only the loser, and the service-minded think of the world at large. This is really flawed thinking.

There will be times in life when one is entirely is dependent on the largesse and the goodness of someone else. Whether it is when stranded in a different city or on the highway, when one is travelling away from home and needs a neighbour – the examples are numerous.

Recently I read the heart-warming story of a young child who protected her little brother who had accidentally slipped from the terrace on to the sunshade below by holding on to his arm all the while, to prevent him from falling. A passer-by rushed to their rescue and saved the boy in good time.

I found myself in a less precarious but not happy situation once, when I got locked out of the house as I was rushing out for a meeting. My husband was travelling and the spare house key was also inside. What was I to do? I couldn’t hire an unknown carpenter and put myself at risk. Scrolling through my contacts list I sent an SoS to a family friend who was kind enough to promptly send his maintenance staff to break open the lock of the side door and let me in.

Finally, if there is one change that Covid-19 is forcing us to make, it is to put others before ourselves. Everyone knows that wearing masks protects both the wearer and those in proximity. Sadly some selfish, ill-advised people are clearly setting the wrong example by brazenly flouting safety norms.

We are all connected in more ways than we know and we need each other more than we anticipate. Keeping this in mind, in all of our actions, would benefit all of us.