Late night/early morning thoughts led me to recalling this blog. I can't believe I got back again after years! And while I'm not going to promise to continue writing (and I know I won't be able to), I'd just like to drop some thoughts here especially of what happened last year.
2020 started out great for me. I've finally managed to go abroad for a vacation. I really thought it was the start of my great adventures. Had places to go to in the next few months. But who would've thought that all those travel plans would come to naught because of a virus. Not just any virus. It was a virus that brought many deaths across the world. I never imagined I'd live to experience a pandemic. No thanks to Covid-19.
The world was put on hold last year. Flights stopped. Cities were in lockdowns. People were required to stay at home. The world outside became quiet. It brought many changes to the lives of people. Some lost their jobs. Others were forced to find other means of earning an income. Many started working from home. People started to pick up hobbies- home workouts, growing plants, baking, Tiktok. Wearing face masks became a norm.
Personally, as someone who works in the hospital, life was not much different. I still went to work like any other day despite the city being on lockdown. The only difference was that the hospital and home (and the supermarket when supplies were diminishing) were the only places I went to. But the hospital faced many challenges during that period. There was a time when the hospital stopped admissions which you would never think of happening in a hospital. PPE's became a thing. And believe me when I say it was not easy. It's quite sad to think that people only ever appreciated the healthcare workers during this time. But I'm still grateful that they recognize our efforts. We were saving lives despite our own fears.
2020 taught us many things. On top of my list is to be grateful for good health. We've taken it for granted so much that we don't realize how important it is 'til we fall sick. I've seen how detrimental Covid-19 was to most people. Even before the pandemic we should've already realized how lucky we are to be able to go about in this world with no aches in the body and being able to appreciate it with all our senses intact. Do yourself a favor and take care of your body. Drink lots of water. Get enough sleep. Eat moderately. Exercise. It's always a good idea to invest in your body.
Another thing 2020 taught me was to appreciate the most basic and most important things in life. When we were forced to stay in our homes, we realized that we could make do with what we already had. Yes, we couldn't go places, shop to our heart's content, go clubbing, etc. But stripped of these distractions, we were able to nurture personal relationships we had neglected. We learned to value our family and friends more.
The world didn't really stop during the pandemic. Life moved on as it always has but we were given a pause. A time to reflect. We were given time to reflect on ourselves and work on ourselves to become better.
We have not returned to the old days. But we are moving on to a new normal. Covid-19 still exists and will probably be always there like TB but we are also arming ourselves with ways to fight it off. I don't know when we'll go back to the days of not wearing face masks and face shields but I do hope that it will come. Soon.
