“I’ve done four lots of isolation”. My Uber driver was chatty. She was a lovely, grandmother type, who seemed to really enjoy driving strangers to the airport. As the discussion predictably turned to the pandemic and it’s impact on our lives, she casually mentioned that she had driven a handful of people who turned out to be COVID positive, and before close contact restrictions were changed, was required to isolate for 14 days, four times, in her room.
It struck me that for many, the world has shrunk in the last few years. For some, the world has been the size of a bedroom for periods of time.
“How did you make it through?” I asked.
“You just find a way”, she stoically replied.
“Not everyone does”, I thought.
My favourite quote at the moment is “no matter where you go, there you are”. This, seemingly pointless phrase, carries with it some profound weight. Because if you find yourself in isolation, or any challenging life situation, you will not be struck by new problems. It will just magnify things that you are struggling with already. If you are feeling lonely, or are lacking purpose, or are self medicating, isolation will make that worse. You can’t escape from you.
There is a way to get out of your own head. To help stop the rumination and downward spirals which seem to make your world feel smaller and smaller.
Generosity.
Yep. Being generous. An old proverb says ‘the world of the generous gets larger and larger whilst the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller’.
Being generous to those around you increases. Focusing only on yourself, being caught up in your own world, being self centred, leads to a small world.
Your world can grow even if you find yourself in isolation.
The Generosity Guy 