4 Reasons Why Being Furloughed Will Be Your Greatest Gift.

That beautiful silver lining you’ve been waiting for.

While it is easy for me to make this statement as I’m not furloughed; a reported 18 million European workers since the start of the pandemic have and just like millions of families around the globe, I have experienced the effects, as my partner put himself forward for the scheme.

Now as we come out the other side, of this unprecedented period. We can ask ourselves, what has this taught us about our lives, and what could our lives look like in the future given a chance to re-imagine our potential new realities?

During the first few weeks of the pandemic, I could feel a tremendous shift in mother nature as she was finally able to breathe again.

Darshak Rana, in his post Coronavirus: A loud wake up for mankind said.

…as humans are confined to their homes and all public spaces are deserted, many animals and birds are seen to be reclaiming their natural habitats and roaming around freely at normally crowded human spaces.

As humans hibernated to save their lives, the earth was healing, the rivers flowed clearly, and a new era had begun. Here are four other gifts being offered to us right now.

1. A Chance to Re-evaluate What is Really Important.

Every year around New Year, like billions of others around the globe, I find the time, in between turkeys, wrapping paper and holiday season reruns to find a smidgen of time to pause and reflect on the year that was.

Each year I make a list of 100 things I would like to achieve in the following year and spend time going through last years list, ticking off anything I’ve managed to accomplish during the previous 12 months.

This year, however, will be different. I doubt I’ll be able to achieve anywhere near what I had envisaged with travelling to foreign countries, seeing old friends and going to the theatre all shelved for the time being.

However, unlike other times — this year, the whole world is on a pause, and I can’t help thinking how much of a gift this is for us all.

Since the start of the pandemic, imagine what bouts of creativity have been released into the world; like clouds of magical dust emerging from the top of our heads.

And we’ve already seen it happening from furloughed Eurostar staff teaching french to pupils in English schools to a P.R. company director, delivering newspapers in her community to help her elderly local newsagent.

Taking time away from the usual 9 to 5, makes us re-evaluate what is really important to us. Is the report your boss asked to be on her desk for 9 am, really that important, when compared to the necessity to homeschool your kids or look after an elderly relative? Do you want to be working your J.O.B. at all when all this is over? And if not, what would you like to be doing instead?

2. Learning a New Skill

Jessica Thiefels recently wrote via Fast Company about five ways to make the most of lockdown. There is something tremendously liberating right now about learning, trying and just having a go. From doctors having to do more for their patients’ virtually through online consultations to teachers leading classes on Microsoft team and previously technophobe grandparents joining in on birthday quizzes on Zoom.

Now, is the perfect time to try a new skill and that’s because pretty much everyone also has to do the same. There’s no need to worry what others might think about you. Your ego will step aside if things go wrong. We’ve all been getting things wrong, making mistakes, growing and learning and having a go.

3. Cutting the Cloth Accordingly

It’s in times like these that I remember what my mother said to me when I turned up at her house in floods of tears when I had finally quit a job I had been desperately wanting to leave for a very long time.

I wasn’t crying because I was scared or worried about how I was going to cope with no income. I was crying because of the sense of relief for finally taking a leap of faith and doing what I wanted to do.

You’ll be fine Beth, you’ll just have to cut your cloth accordingly.

But that was easier said than done, knowing how my other-half viewed money. It would be clear to say; we are at the opposite of the spectrum when it comes to money. I have always felt there will always be enough to go around, that however, much or how little you have the Universe will always be supportive and provide what is needed.

My other half, on the other hand, will only believe it when he sees it. He’s usual rhetoric sounded like “It’s easier to get another job when you have a job” Or “how are we going to pay the mortgage if you just quit?” He sees things in black and white, based on facts and logic, while I believe in the impossible and that everything will always be ok, however illogical the circumstances and both of these viewpoints have their pros and cons!

The point I am trying to make, which relates to these current times, is that right now, millions of people have lost their livelihoods, their businesses or are unable to operate the same way as before; staff furloughed, people working from home the list goes on. And in all of this, while the Government has stepped in providing some level of financial support during this crisis, most people have been forced to look at how they spend their money and re-evaluate what really is essential.

While I’m not advocating everyone reading this, quit their day jobs, I just wanted to highlight that taking a different path, doesn’t necessarily cause financial ruin. With a bit of creativity, cutting back and only spending on the essentials, you can have a much more abundant and more meaningful life. If you have the dream inside of you and you cut your cloth accordingly to your new circumstances, you might surprise yourself on what you’ll achieve.

4. Being More Present And Living in the Now

Which brings me to my final point. If you can, take a moment to think back to the start of the year. Possibly a time when you were run off your feet, on the treadmill of life, going from one task to the next. Wake, work, eat, sleep rinse repeat. Were you living in the now? Probably not. But right now, because you’ve been able to breathe, spend more time with the ones you love, be creative and try new things. You might be able to feel that you are living more in the now than ever before. Take time to celebrate that. The good news is if you like this aspect of your self, you can choose to take this forward on your onward journey.

Staying in the now, post-pandemic could include; reading more, meditating, writing, listing your goals, being more intentional with every single action, visualising your future and deciding where you might head next.

In summary, while this has been a challenging time, we should be reminded that every cloud really does have a silver lining. This is a unique moment in time; for many, it will be a poignant and pivotal moment.

Take the time to re-evaluate where you are right, what skills have you been learning during this time, and what would you like to continue to learn? Celebrate how you’ve coped, how you’ve managed under tremendous unexpected pressures and how resilient you are? If you chose to see it as such these times might just be the greatest gift of all.