These are unprecedented times…

30 Apr 2020 in Blog

This pandemic is unlike any other ones before it, we all are affected in one way or the other. Even my parents told me that they have never witnessed anything like this before in their lives.

Here are some of my thoughts living through the strangest time so far in my life.

I am thankful

I am incredibly thankful that I, my family, and my friends are all safe up until now. Even though we live in a country next to China, our government has done an excellent job controlling the outbreak. We have just finished our three weeks of social distancing and stores, restaurants are being open again.

Photo by Kiy Turk on Unsplash

I am thankful that I work for a large corporation with enough financial strengths that even though our company is severely affected, my job is secure. I know that many of my peers have to take unpaid leave, some even lost their jobs.

I am thankful that I get to spend more time with my wife and my family now that we cannot go out as much as before. Without the usual social interactions, such as drinking coffee with friends or having a meal with colleagues, there is more time than ever for family.

I yearn to travel again

I spent a fair amount of time last year traveling and I enjoyed it. I had not been into traveling before, but once I started, I was hooked. With the current situation, seems like it won’t be until at least the end of this year that I can safely travel abroad again.

Photo by Kevin Noble on Unsplash

I want to go back to Banff again during winter to ice-skate on lake Louise and experience the amazing Mourine lake that I missed last time. I want to go to Churchill to see the Northern light and revisit the beautiful Victoria City. I also want to visit Switzerland, Norway, and New Zealand. So many places left to discover!

Maybe it is an excellent time to explore my own country more!

Finding my new routine

I struggled a fair bit to get used to staying and working at home all the time. I had a routine, and the pandemic abruptly interrupted it. I found myself waking up late, not exercising, skipping my daily reading session, and generally being lazier.

Photo by Claudiu Hegedus on Unsplash

Not until after the city-wide mandated social isolation period was over, had I realized that I was in a semi-coma state. Going back to work again helped me in resuming my old routine in some ways.

I realized that having a routine is vital in getting things done. Without one, you will fall back to unproductive activities such as watching Netflix or playing video games.

The new normal

People are talking about the new normal, co-inhabiting with the pandemic. What is the new normal? How long will this last? When can we get back to what it was before? We all share these questions without a definite answer.

For me, the new normal will be wearing a mask when you go out, at least for the next 3–6 months. It will be spending less on unnecessary things such as eating out, going to a movie, or traveling, which, if your income is not affected, is a good thing.

Despite all the negativities going on in the media, I see a lot of beautiful things as well. Even with the social distancing, we are united more than ever before to fight the common invisible enemy.

Let’s look on the bright side, do our parts in the war against COVID-19, and put the pandemic behind us.