Lessons Learned During Covid-19: A Year Later 2021

Almost a year has passed since the microscopic virus known as Covid-19 hit our shores and turned the world upside down. It ushered in a time of reflection, quarantine, challenge, observation, and adaptation.  What comes next is uncertain, but the future generation can learn from this experience and correct the world for better.

I have learned during Covid-19 that mindfulness is not only an interior dialogue, but an exterior one too.   I was never an outgoing social butterfly, extrovert nor did I need to surround myself with others. I was not a hermit either.  Sadly, I can focus now on how I take for granted accessible people in my life, like my family, friends, acquaintances, and work-related people. In the past, I created solitary space for moments needed for a mental retreat, to check in with myself, to calm myself, talk to myself, reflect by myself and, find joy in myself. I found this necessary for balance, in the fast-moving pre Covid-19 world, the opposite of our present experience. Today, I miss the interaction with family, friends and even strangers. Physically and emotionally, they are missing, and I am aware of the imbalance. I miss the smiles of strangers, the niceties, the unexpected craziness. I have learned during Covid-19 the importance of balance, the yin and yang, the balance dualism of life and the creation of memories.

I have learned during Covid-19 to give respect to nature. It is a beast. Sometimes dormant, but when provoked, it rages. Its arsenal of weapons is fierce, fires, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and biological terror, to name a few. Do not mess with mother nature. Trees, oceans, lakes, soil have life, they sing, they have voices, and they reset. What may seem like acts of lunacy, such as, talking to trees, the rain, and the ocean, somehow seems doable to me today. Going forward I will acknowledge their presence and thank them for their existence. They give much, they were created before us, to serve us, to benefit us. Disrespecting nature narrows our awareness of its immense presence. It is a sleeping beast, but when aroused it unleashes wrath without boundaries. Finding safety and adapting are our defense. Those who cannot, perish. Nature resets. Its clock are the seasons, day, and night. It feeds animals, birds, and quenches thirst.  We depend on its availability and forget to give it thanks. Teaching the next generation its worth seems like an enlighten goal.

I have learned during Covid-19 the value of adaptability. Living life requires guessing skills, some educated, some gut checks, some instinctive, some with prayer, and still hope for the best outcome. Life happens every morning. Do you wonder why anxiety and mood disorders are so rampant in our society, and dare I say, in most advanced societies in the world? Among the young especially? People are not prepared for the unpredictability of existence. Expectations for perfection, unattainable goals, unreal scenarios break the human psyche.  Even science allows room for error and lack of control. Storming winds uproot imposing solid maple trees, but flexible palms sway in hurricane gusts. There is fear in adaptability. Many prefer solid ground opposed to shifting sand. Adaptability is a survival skill. At the end of the day, those who accept change as part of their lives will continue to have lives. Think of a pregnant woman who carries an unknown in her womb for nine months. At birth she acquaints herself with her new charge. It is uncertain what the future holds for the baby. Uncertainty can stress you, worry you, angst you, bewilder you, comfort you, please and balance you, but we do not know what will be. We are responsible to ourselves to adapt to change and stay grateful we exist.

During Covid-19 it comforts me knowing I am a believer. My faith and hope have not wavered. I believe in the Almighty, all Knowing, all Decider, Master Planner, Only Judge. Is it the beginning of the Messianic Age? Were the Australian fires the catalyst for this pandemic, was the topsy-turvy leadership of the most powerful nation of the world the beginning of its decline, will Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or Serena Williams win another major championship? I digress. Uncertainty, certainly.

We live each day, and I am thankful my soul returns every morning. I am here, my family and friends are still here, my surroundings are here, natural beauty is here, my health is still here, God is always here. All around grateful, for learning, adapting, appreciating, and believing.

Eleven months into a pandemic. Man’s intelligence has spearheaded a vaccine to fight a microorganism, we hope for success. There is more to learn, my hope is I will.