COVID-19: What Will Be Your Takeaway?

Where were you?

Where were you when Pearl Harbor was bombed? Where were you when Kennedy was assassinated? Where were you when Martin Luther King was killed? Where were you when America was under attack on 9/11? These were all significant events that impacted Americans at a moment or period in time that was seared in their memories forever.  Most of us can accurately give account of our whereabouts and activity when each event took place or they first heard the news. What about the Covid-19 pandemic? What impression will be seared in your memories after the virus is long gone and in the history books? Have you thought about how this moment in time will affect you overall? What will be your take away?

Okay so this Covid-19 pandemic has taken over our lives, turning it inside out and depending on where you work, life has become a nightmare and a possible death sentence for those deemed “essential workers”. Since the last biggest pandemic wasn’t in my lifetime, I was clueless as are many others of any precedent set that we can reference on what to expect, how to prepare for, what to avoid or how to utilize time wisely, we wouldn’t otherwise have, while under a stay at home and social distancing order!  The first two weeks I started off, you could say feeling unaffected by it all, thinking “Oh this is cool, I am working a limited schedule and being compensated the same as if nothing had changed”. That was the gradual period until the severity of this virus started to set in and effect most of us like nothing we’ve experienced before. Looking through the big lens, was I initially the only person just interested for knowledge on Covid-19’s effects globally because of all the sick and dying in Wuhan, that seemed too far away to be serious about?  Well soon, it was the top news story here in the United States, and narrowing the view to neighboring states, until it was in my city and I was suddenly looking at it outside my own window pane.  So eventually, my interest grew to be worries and then fears that hit home as relatives and friends were being diagnosed positive, and many were dying, thus losing the fight against this virus. 

What are we facing?

In hindsight, knowing now, what I did not realize before is, the governor’s stay at home order would have the power to change my life and others in one way or another forever. We cannot gage the full effect of this pandemic on the medical, financial, political, social, business, and educational platforms to name a few. Working in the human services industry as a caseworker, I am emotionally torn daily through phone calls from people who have waited a long time in the queue to get through to a human, then pouring out their fears of the need for food to feed their families, uncertainty of unemployment eligibility, inability of paying their bills and I hear their sense of urgency, frustration and even despair of no longer having order as they know it in their life. Hearing their sigh of relief when told they are eligible for benefits makes me work diligently to get to the next call and help someone else, hoping they get the same relief of at least one of their insecurities. At the end of the day I am grateful to do what I do and make a difference during this time of crisis. The virus is bad enough to contend with but what about the other issues that stem directly or indirectly from the stay at home order.  Parent(s) working from home with no break from home life, working less hours, temporarily furloughed, children out of school, challenges of homeschooling, daycare issues for those who work, family separation, no social interaction, little to no physical activity, changes in sleep and eating habits, challenges mentally, relationship strain, and all the known abuses being heighten! The list goes on and on and on of stresses while the virus is raging, taking away our family, friends and our way of life. When will we see the light at the end of the tunnel!

 Conclusion

I have felt a flood of emotions including happy, sad, bored, sleepy, tired, hungry, anxious, overwhelmed, angry, claustrophobic, stir crazy, depressed, compounding these emotions by the lost of my mother on January 11,,2020 and we were inseparable. Everyone will wrestle with their own demons during this order to stay in. A worthy concern is how we will come out of this pandemic individually and collectively. Each of us are being forced to learn who we are under conditions we had no idea would present the effects and challenges it does. Will we persevere? Will we do introspection and truly seek ways to better ourselves while time seems to be on our side? Will we realize our areas of misappropriated value and pinpoint what is important? Will we take time like we did in the 9/11 tragedy and pray collectively, thus strengthening our spiritual foundation and look to Jesus? The opportunity for us to be challenged with the question every day, can this time be a turning point for some things such as a change in and around us? Beginnings? Endings?  Maybe a review and pivot in our perspective on life, love, forgiveness, personal and professional development, attitude, relationships, or just sincere appreciation? Perhaps during this time of frustration and lock down, some of us need to work on the ugly fierce monster that rose up from within us that we didn’t know existed (or maybe we did), secretly lying dormant, and slay it?

Final Thought

At the very least, we should be motivated by the many frontline workers who have risked their lives, along with the high toll of those who have become casualties of Covid-19. Time, for many is something we abuse, misuse, waste, and take for granted, forgetting it’s value as a precious commodity. Take time as a survivor to think about, when the stay at home order is lifted, how the isolation time converted you? What did you learn? Were you able to overcome some issues you struggled with? Has your awareness peaked in areas that help build your character? We are all in this together and we can think, do and be better if we consciously take time during this order to work on ourselves. It would be time well served. I imagine we can all have a testament of our improved or newfound strengths, resilience, perseverance and appreciation as proof we are not the same person going in, as the person coming out. What doesn’t break us has to make us stronger. If asked how this isolation period and the Covid-19 pandemic changed you, how will you answer? Hopefully, you are inspired to set the wheels in motion to be the best version you can be of yourself.  

Be obedient to the stay at home order, help where and when you can, and above all, stay safe.