Personal responsibility: reflecting during Covid-19

I believe that everybody would say about himself that he lives self-responsible. But is that the case when we observe the discussions and the behaviour in our society? Aren’t we already beyond being self-responsible and more in an age of consumption at all costs?

Let us now observe the discussion during Covid-19 about holidays. People can get quite emotional when their option of vacationing is taken away. News media give considerable space to this topic. Now, if we would reflect on our personal responsibility, which means we would include fellow human beings in our thoughts, we would ask different questions from my perspective. We would think about what is essential for us in our life. We would exchange opinions with our partners and loved ones and deepen our view, while at the same time broadening it. This exchange of opinions would possibly make the different nuances in our value systems more explicit.

Maybe, this exchange would lead, if we would think self-responsibly, to a dialogue about content, not an exchange of statements, with the people around us. This could make new aspects visible to us that we can reflect upon to enrich our worldview. But it will also enable us to take a stance that is much more valid simply because of an exchange with people that have different views. Based on that, we would be more honest with ourselves and could spare us painful experiences. I am deeply convinced that the decline of dialogues and the increasing rarity of respectful discourses makes us blind to our true inner needs.

Possession has never been crucial for emotional hygiene. Rather, the need for the development of hidden genius, that is home to everybody, is what is important for us. Sometimes, this desire would materialize very practical in everyday life. And sometimes it would be directed towards big, all-encompassing ideas that would be serving all people.

The meaning and the importance of science became very clear through SARS-CoV-2, like under a microscope. Also, the importance of the many people that are in the care of the elderly, health authorities, hospitals, and other people with social jobs. I firmly hope that we will remember some of the insights we gained during this pandemic and that they will also inspire us as individuals to think about what is important in our short life that will most likely just last between 80 and 90 years.