Petit à petit, Yuan fait son nid.

Lesson 64 One day at a time

I don’t know how you guys feel during the confinement, I hope everything is going well for you.

For my part, I am going quite smoothly.

In fact, José was amazed to find that I was so calm and serene.

So much so, that one day, he said, “Yuan, you know, I am so proud of you.”

I asked, “Why ?”

He said, “Because you are coping with the situation so well. I know it is not easy, it could be quite disturbing for you. People are dying ; the number of deaths is going up day after day ; the continuous bad news about economy ; the world is changing, with a lot of uncertainties, lots of tensions… In fact, I was worried about your morale … “

“But no, it seems that you are not affected by it too much. Which made your confinement much more pleasant and easier than I expected.”

I laughed, I said, “Because I totally gave up. You know, I realized early that there is nothing I could do to change the situation. So why not just let it be?”

José said, “Exactly, that was what I kept telling you, “Une journée à la fois.” One day at a time.”

I said, “Well yes…You don’t have the choice. Except that, what else can we do ?”

José said, “I understand that you see it negatively. But maybe you can try to look at it positively. Personally sometimes I think about it quietly before I go to sleep, I feel it could be good for the human nature. We all learn from our mistakes. In the long term, it can do a lot of good for our society.”

“We will learn to respect more about the nature ; we will appreciate more about our human relationships ; we will help each other more than before. I really feel it could be positive for us.”

“The confinement is a forced break, somehow we need a break like that in our life ; it forced us to stop ; to rethink our path ; to readjust the goals of our actions ; or simply, taste more about our life.”

“We could all feel the anxiety among people in this kind of situation. But we need to learn to analyse its causes. And see whether we could do something to change it.”

“If we cannot change the situation for the time being, instead of feeling anxious and being depressed every day, it is much more wiser to spend the time in a constructive manner. “

“Because even if you are deeply depressed or unhappy, you can not change the situation. We are all in the same boat. You need to admit your limits. You also need to admit the limits of human nature. Facing the virus, we are so fragile. So what we need to learn is to live one day at a time.”

I said, “Yes, that is why I began to write my blog ; a blog each day, it is very constructive for me and also, it turns away my attention.”

“Good.” José said, “You know, in French, we have a saying, “À chaque jour, suffit sa peine.””