How we get wiser, is what we do with opportunities, adversities and disappointments.  The coronavirus pandemic has taken us off guard. All of us, including the many specialists who were open and honest in their statements that they did not know how COVID-19 would affect the people in the world. Some were faster to realize its impact than others, and very likely our personalities and to what extent we can handle realities has something to do with this. Denial is a defense mechanism.

Sometimes decisions made to not disclose important facts are made for the wrong reasons, such as the false information that masks do not do anything for “healthy” people, as of course, they do, as any barrier is better than none. We cannot see who is “healthy” and who is not, considering that the incubation period is centering around 5-6 days. In addition to this, some people are symptoms free but can infect others. The decision was made with the assumption that when you tell the truth, it would mean that people would not share the available masks and this would prevent access to those who need them the most. People, in general, however, do not appreciate being lied to. They tend to respond better when asked for cooperation to a just cause. Is all about about reciprocal respect. 

Maybe now more than ever, is the time to ponder the so-called existential questions of what this is all about.

What is the meaning of life and of death? What is our purpose in life? Living a life according to our values by honouring what is meaningful, what is important and what brings us joy, is a life that has meaning and purpose.

When faced with a crisis, we can reconsider what our normal state had become before the pandemic. Were we driven by success in our careers, making money, materialistic gains, beauty or likes on social media?

The pandemic and the consequence of physical distancing from others who are not living with us, have brought us closer to family and relationships. Many of us are struggling, as the relationships we have with those who supposedly are in our “inner circle” is not healthy. Although inherently good, many people are not nice to others. They prioritize selfish, materialistic and other, often superficial “gains”, above respectful behaviour toward others.

And although everyone for themselves has to, sooner or later, ponder over the existential questions, we are faced with the reality, now even more than ever, that we all die, and that life is relatively short. Maybe we have to take a closer look at our fear of dying.

What we do in our life counts, and we need to focus on how we accomplished some of our goals. This directs us to our behaviour and how we treat each other in our personal and professional lives. If there is anything good coming from all of this, I hope it is the realization that we cannot do it alone, that we need each other and that there is nothing more valuable in life than having people we can trust and feel safe with in our inner circle.