To a greater or lesser extent, the vast majority of us now have more time on our hands due to the global spread of COVID-19. What to do with it all, though, in a world that’s in the throes of a pandemic?

Once the effects of the virus started to be felt more acutely in the UK, I realised early on that I was paying too much attention to the news. News is insidious. It can consume your life! And I know that I wasn’t put here on earth to read and watch the news.

I’m glad to have put the news back in its place.

It can also be tempting to go with the default fear-based option of visiting the supermarket more often than usual, buying more food than necessary, in fear that others’ doing the same will lead to scarcity.

Fear-based living will destroy us from the inside out. It will steal our time and resources, while damaging our wellbeing and relationships. It will inhibit our ability to make valuable contributions that may be necessary in meeting the needs of others.

If we’re going to use our additional time wisely then we need to lift our sights above fear.

A New Appreciation for Blessings

One way of moving beyond fear is gratitude – not grandstanding or grandiloquence, but quiet appreciation for the blessings in our lives.

Appreciation is a useful form of gratitude; it can completely shift our perspective. We can appreciate the smallest of things to great effect. Appreciation can become a habit.

Over recent weeks I’ve become particularly appreciative of the blue tits that visit our garden and live in boxes that we put up about four years ago. These birds swoop into the garden, play fight with each other, pop in and out of the boxes, and feed. It’s uplifting to watch the carefree way in which they move.

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? – Matthew 6: 26

I’ve also rekindled my appreciation for the bass guitar over recent weeks. I play in a band and can play for hours in a practice room with bandmates, but I haven’t made much time to play at home in recent years. Learning new songs that are technically challenging has been mentally stimulating and emotionally rewarding. I feel like I’ve reconnected with a lost, but loved, pastime.

Walks with my wife and our dog, Woody, are more appreciated than they were, too. The UK’s lockdown doesn’t prevent us from having a daily walk (yet), so as long as we’re permitted to have them we'll continue to enjoy each others’ company and the surroundings that we’ve been blessed with.

A new appreciation for simple blessings has helped me to move away from fear, uncertainty and doubt, clearing the way for me to focus on what I was put on this earth to do.

This is a Test

While speaking with mentees this week, I invited them to imagine that each of us is now in the middle of a test. The test is based on how we use the additional time we’ve been given. For which purposes will we use that time? What will we contribute? What will we achieve?

Time is said to be more valuable than money. The extent to which we value time in our own lives will become apparent throughout the coming weeks and months.

I was supposed to be flying to Boston, MA in April to deliver my TEDx Talk, which has been indefinitely delayed. TEDx was my biggest goal for 2020, so I have had a rethink, switched my focus to other goals and adapted my plans.

Despite the uncertainty of the times, I am optimistic for the future. Each of us has a role to play in that future if we have a mindset of stewardship and the necessary courage to step up.

While COVID-19 has brought about many challenges and tragedies, it has also inspired human goodness and growth.

Life will not be the same after the virus. This is not the end, but a new beginning.

Let’s start again as we mean to go on.

A New Appreciation for Blessings – making the most of our time during COVID-19