Through a Different Lens
When the Covid pandemic began, many countries locked down as the virus reached their borders. The length of lockdowns and suggested self-isolations varied by country and state.
Some lockdowns were initially set for two weeks or a month, then relaxed. Other counties, states and countries extended their lockdowns for months and some for a year and more.
In the beginning, bars, restaurants and other gathering places were closed or limited in operation. Then, more types of businesses, goods, services and venues were shut down.
What works for 2 weeks or even a month does not work for 3 months, 6 months, a year or more.
Our lives changed.
Rahm Emanuel is credited with saying: “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Often this sentence is seen as a way for governments and politicians to take advantage of a situation to gain more power, control, pick economic winners and losers, and reshape society into what they think it should be. Some tried and continue trying.
Take a few moments to think about his statement differently, however. What does it mean for you, personally, not to let that crisis, or any crisis, go to waste?
How has the Covid pandemic impacted your spiritual life, your social life, your personal life, your extended family life, your economic activity, income and spending patterns and your physical and emotional well-being?
Stop, ponder and write it down:
- What did you learn that will serve you well going forward?
- What have you learned about yourself that you did not know before?
- List the opportunities you see placed in your path that you would not have noticed in your previous routines.
- What changes have you made?
As we learn to live with Covid, what are you expecting/hoping to see happen going forward? Are you longing for a “return to normal”? Are there changes that you embraced and hope to carry into the future?
I cannot tell you what life will look like a month, two months, a year from now; but don’t let those unknowns get in the way of growing, becoming, imagining possibilities that may improve your life in ways you had not yet imagined.
Updated post originally published on Apr 18, 2020.