Life Lessons from COVID-19

Covid-19 has brought us life lessons that will bring us wisdom and courage to face the world that we live in – the new normal that we shall now live in (Unsplash photo)

Life lessons do not always come in a beautifully wrapped package with shiny red bows on it.  Life lessons can come in many ways: through interactions that we have with our families and friends; through education; through media; through stumbling upon life-changing situations and unfortunately, through loss, grief and tragedy.

Covid-19 has brought us life lessons that will bring us wisdom and courage to face the world that we live in – the new normal that we shall now live in. Through Coronavirus, we have learned:

• DOCTORS, NURSES, SCIENTISTS, GROCERY WORKERS, JANITORS & ALL OTHER ESSENTIAL WORKERS MUST BE BETTER PAID. This unprecedented time has taught us that all essential workers are the ones that save us during a pandemic. They are the ones that will get us out of this mess alive and intact. They are the ones working more than a full shift each day to make sure that the world recovers from this unseen enemy. The scientists are all working hard to find a cure and a vaccine for this virus. We should now redefine how much money celebrities around the world, politicians, and athletes make and instead pay all essential workers the salary that they truly deserve.
• EVERYONE MUST KNOW HOW TO COOK. Covid-19 taught us that cooking is indeed a life skill. Knowing how to cook is a survival tool. Learning to cook will help us understand eating healthy, budgeting our money, and cleaning after ourselves. It teaches us self-sustainability.
• INTERNET MUST BE A BASIC NECESSITY TO ALL.It should be a basic human right for everyone. No one must be left behind when it comes to access to internet or broadband – particularly in developing countries – people from all walks of life must have access to information, knowledge, education, and current events through internet. During pandemic, everyone must have the right to be able to work from home; study from home, and even just to contact loved ones from a distance.
• THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD HYGIENE AND WASHING HANDS. Washing our hands is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading the virus to others. Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of germs on them. The benefit of having good hygiene is having better health. Keeping our body clean helps prevent illness and infection from bacteria or viruses.
• SACRIFICING OUR FREEDOM FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF HUMANITY. Coronavirus forced us to stay at our homes. It taught us to sacrifice our freedom for the greater good of humanity. It taught us that when it comes to the greater good, one must learn to sacrifice a little bit of that freedom. And that it is not that bad either — it’s not bad to stay at home, to sit and be idle.
• LEARNING THE ART OF RECONNECTING WITH OURSELVES THROUGH SELF-ISOLATION. Self-isolation gave us the opportunity to reset our life button and to take a pause. It allowed us the chance to reflect on our lives, on our mistakes, and what we hope to achieve once we come out of self-isolation. It gave us the opportunity to rediscover ourselves — to get to know ourselves better without the noise around us.
• EMBRACING OUR PERSONAL GROWTH.During quarantine, we’ve learned to entertain ourselves. We’ve learned to bake; learned to cook new recipes; we learned to become fitness gurus in the privacy of our homes; learned a new language; learned to sketch or paint; learned a musical instrument; learned to sing; to write a blog; and yes, do the TikTok craze! Covid-19 taught us to grow through life. It taught us that life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze us — on the contrary — they are supposed to help us grow to our better versions.
• BEING COOPED UP WITH OUR PARTNERS CAN EITHER MAKE OR BREAK A RELATIONSHIP.With so many couples and families spending more time together at home in isolation, some are developing ways to make it work, while others (unfortunately) are finding it tough and challenging. Enforced closeness plus having to deal with the many stresses that come with the pandemic can either make or break a relationship. Now more than ever, it is important to have better communication with each other; learning how to compromise and be more committed to being a couple through hardships.
• LEARNING TO APPRECIATE THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE AND LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE. Being in isolation at our homes has forced us to return to simpler lifestyles. The slower pace of life has given us the opportunity to relax a little bit, to pay more attention to our nearest and dearest. It has taught us to appreciate sunrises and sunsets. It taught us to appreciate the chirping of the birds; the sound of silence; the rustling of leaves and the art of doing absolutely nothing.
• WORKING FROM HOME MAY BE THE NEW NORMAL. Due to the pandemic, we have learned that it is possible to work from home. All we need is a good internet. Less transportation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, by reducing congestion, working from home reduces emissions from cars stuck in traffic. Have you ever noticed how much clearer the sky has been and how there is less pollution around the world?

Coronavirus has indeed given us tough lessons to learn — it has also made us smarter, stronger, and wiser than we were yesterday.