The whole world is feeling so much tension right now. Many people are frustrated or scared, wondering when life can feel more normal again. Some of us are stuck between wondering if we are overreacting or under-reacting. There are so many unknowns right now and all we can do is sit and speculate about the many little outcomes that we could be facing.
Maybe none of us can single-handedly stop this chaos and uncertainty, but what we can do is take a realistic look at ourselves and see what we can learn from all this. First of all, we can definitely take in some lessons about how important it is to do our part and keep pandemics from getting worse. Through all of our panic research, we have learned a lot about hygiene, how viruses work, and how easily our worlds can be flipped upside down overnight.
If I can make one request, I hope you can also take a moment to think of all the little freedoms that we are missing so much right now. We are living in a time where all of those freedoms are taken away from us. Yes, it is for a good cause, but it is also very hard to know we are not in full control of our own lives at the moment. Maybe all of us are a little guilty of taking the little things for granted because we never knew what it would be like to have them snatched away so quickly.
What I really miss right now, is a sense of normalcy. I miss my routines. I miss waking up early and hitting the gym with no worries. I never realized how much I loved having a place to go and work every day. We spend so much time complaining about our jobs and daily, mundane activities. Suddenly though, those are the first things we miss once they are out of reach. I didn’t know before how much it means to have my coworkers down the hall from me, or having the freedom to go talk about mindless stuff with them in between daily tasks. I miss having places to go every day. I even miss my commute home from work, which normally would have just been seen as some annoying traffic.
I miss being able to walk up to friends and family and reach out for a hug without thinking twice about it. I miss going to sleep at night and not worrying about what’s going to be happening in the morning. I would give anything to be able to celebrate my birthday with all my friends and not be concerned that us being together is a danger.
I miss being able to swing by the grocery store and pick out whatever I want to make for dinner tonight. I wish that I could go run errands right now without being unsure of the potential craziness I could be faced with. I never realized how easily people’s livelihood and businesses could be put in jeopardy, to no fault of their own. I definitely took for granted the fact that so many people had stability while building on their dreams.
I miss feeling normal. With so much anxiety circulating the world right now, nothing seems to feel right. Our work, our families, our health and routines all seem so far away.
Most of all, I miss knowing that my family is fine. I miss being able to go through the day without worrying that someone I love will get sick. I will never, ever take for granted my health and life because over the past few weeks I’ve seen how quickly others have lost theirs.
Knowing what we know now, let’s try to take as much good from this mess as we can. Let’s make sure we always look at our freedoms and be grateful for them. Let’s stop taking the little things for granted.
Appreciate every hug with a loved one, interaction with your favorite coworkers, every morning workout at the gym. Be thankful for peace of mind, the freedom of going out to run errands, and the ability to go to work every day. The things that once seemed ordinary, are now some of the best things we can appreciate in life. Learn from all this, and make your future one you will always be grateful for having.
