Jim Rohn said that the seasons show us how to live. Whenever winter comes along, spring isn’t far behind. There’s no question we’re in winter at the moment.

The Seventh Habit is Sharpen the Saw. It reflects the eternal, universal, self-evident principle of Renewal. Which is what winter, in a sense, represents in as far as the earth remains fallow and renews in preparation for the rebirth of nature.

So let’s learn nature’s lesson and use this winter as an opportunity to renew ourselves in the four dimensions.

Physical – the government has permitted us to leave the house to exercise once a day, but there is no obligation to use a long walk to get sweaty. You can climb the stairs twenty times to get that result! You can do press-ups, sit-ups or other ‘free’ exercise within the walls of your abode and use the walk ‘opportunity’ for another reason – see below.

Mental – there were some students on the news this morning, asking what they should do during the lockdown. Here’s a thought – STUDY! You’ve paid huge sums of money for an education, enhance and supplement what you’ve learned by renewing your knowledge – revise, research, and apply your mind to enhancing that knowledge in a practical sense. Professionals do that all the time – is your degree aimed towards a profession?

Social – bit of an issue with that one, I grant you. But Skyping seems to be the in-thing, or meeting using Zoom (not done that yet), so there is every chance to relate to other people from your cell, if you want to. Or you can re-engage with your spouse. If you have to.

Spiritual – this confinement is something experienced by many greats over time. Mandela, Sadat, Gandhi – all used isolation as an opportunity to reconnect to their purpose. For them, their confinement was not voluntary and was a little bit more, er, pressurised than ours. But they used it as an opportunity for self-discovery. You can use it as an opportunity for that, or to re-assess what it is you are for.

There is no need to watch as much TV as is available. If you missed The Battle of the Bulge yesterday it’ll be on again tomorrow – it’s THE most transmitted war film of 2019-2020. Everything on in the week is repeated at the weekend. I am conscious that knowing this indicates I watch too much TV. Ouch.

Take advantage of this lull in the 8-4. You need to fill your time productively but you can use your creative imagination and independent will to do something you’ve been avoiding for years, like train for a half-marathon. (Baby steps.)

If things can get worse, we can it least we can follow D-Ream’s advice – and make ourselves get better.