The WHO declared the COVID-19 as a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020. This means it has now attained the status of diseases that affect the whole world on a larger scale joining the league of the Black Death (Bubonic Plague), Spanish Flu, Smallpox, HIV/AIDS and a host of others which decimated the human population in large numbers over the years. But like the other times, we will overcome this and COVID 19 will also be controlled.
But as we continue in the fight against this rapidly spreading and respecter-of-no-person disease, I think it is necessary that we reflect and learn some lessons from what is happening so that when it is done, we would be able to live better and smarter than we were before the pandemic.
Just a few important ones that I would be pointing our attention to. Let’s take time out to reflect and learn all the lessons we can and most of all, apply them to our lives.
A few things are really important:
To limit the spread and prevalence of the disease, strict measures were put in place and these measures put virtually everything on standstill. Everyone was told to stay at home for more than seven days. Business activities came to a halt. Religious and public gatherings were banned. Travels ceased. Movements within the environs were limited to very important ones and nothing more.
Everyone had to stay at home. The things that seem to matter and were of paramount importance on a normal day were stopped and not just for one day but for seven days and more and even for some, months. Everyone who loves their lives dearly had to stay home.
Parents are now left with their children – the ones they were always too busy to attend to. Men and women are forced to find and form a relationship with the God they just visit on Sundays. They are forced to check their lives and see the things that really matter.
Forcefully, we have been made to understand something very important that we usually do not hear amidst work and activities on a normal day. Only a few things matter!
Nothing lasts forever and death is inevitable.
If someone told you a month ago that you would have to leave work or school and stay home for days doing nothing, you would most have told the person to shut up. But isn’t that what’s happening now? Nothing is permanent!
The Wise Ancient King lamented in his annals that all is vanity, vanity upon vanity. He had everything but yet he was still not satisfied. The only thing that is constant is change. You should expect changes in the lifestyle of humans after this is over – a testament to that everlasting truth: nothing is permanent.
Though we are very lucky that the level of recovery from the disease compared to the deaths is high, it is still not something we should joke with. If you are on active on Social Media, you would have seen the narratives of the ordeals of those who got infected. Their experience is not something we all wish to have. We are grateful that they recovered but you don’t need to have their experience to learn from it. Find those things that are important and value them, treasure them for death is every man’s end.
- How well do you value your relationship with God?
- How much do you esteem your relationship with your family and friends?
- How well do you live up your vision?
- How much time do you spend on doing these things?
Every other thing is peripheral and ephemeral. There are only a few things that really matter in this life of ours – your faith, your vision and your relationships. How well you manage these things will determine how beautiful and purposeful the life you lived is!
How ironic is it that the causative agent is something so little that we need an advanced aid just to see it. Focus on the things that matter the most and you will find that your life will make more and the best sense.
Check yourself
Socrates quipped “the unexamined life Is not worth living”. Very true. You have been given the opportunity to evaluate your life. Do it. Identify those things that are important to you; your faith and the people around you. Take time out to see how well you are faring in dealing with these things and fixing anything that needs fixing.
The human family will come out victorious over the pandemic, so make sure that you also come out better personally because that’s what will prepare you for the massive changes that await us.
When this ends, we will all share stories and live life better than we have ever done! But before that, let’s reflect, learn our lessons and apply them!
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What have you learnt so far during this period?
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