A Year Later: Three things COVID 19 taught me
How COVID taught me how to handle the pandemic within me
A year later, and for some of us depending on where we live, we may still be knee-deep in lockdown pandemic mode or have regained some outside access to society. While COVID bore different effects on different people, I didn’t realize what the year of 2020 (it’s inaugural year) taught me till now.
To sum it up for the sake of this article, there were three initial things COVID taught me, and its these very sentiments alone that have allowed me to maintain my peace and even realize how I alone control the peace in my own life.
1. God is my source and everything else is a resource
Now COVID did not necessarily teach me this but reaffirmed this sentiment for me. Prior to the pandemic many held security in their income, their job title and what they had. 2020 was a year that challenged all of that. Where many were no longer working, so this job they identified with which was no longer in production and the reduction in income and resources brought about a serious question. Where was our security rooted in?
For me as a very spiritual person, I know God to be my source and everything else to be a resource. Meaning that I know that no matter what happens, God will provide all resources necessary to me. It further confirmed to me my security and identity can not be rooted in what I do for a living, my bank account balance or what I have.
To put your security in what you do or have is a dangerous thing in my eyes. Because, what if you can no longer do this job title or role that you identify with, what place does that put you in mentally?
There are some where their identity is rooted in their relationship. And you’ll hear this when people say “Who I am is a wife or husband etc.” proudly within their core. But what if your relationship goes south? That means your identity goes down with it.
You will know where or in what someone’s identity is rooted in. If it is rooted in their job, what they do, their relationship, finances or resources; Then, when any of those things begin to shift so will how they feel about themselves.
2. Build a life where you don't feel you “always” need to take a vacation from.
During the inception of quarantine 2020 many people were now stuck at home faced with the reality of their lives. There was no more hustle and bustle that they were able to distract themselves with. They had to face every ounce of their lives from how they lived, the person or people they lived with and so much more!
I do believe there will be times where you will want a vacay and to get away from the daily routine of your life which is normal. However, if you feel you always want to get away from your life, you may need to reevaluate some things. And to think of how to create a life you don’t always want to run away from. And for those who wanted to run away they couldn’t. They had to stay home and face the music.
My home is my sanctuary, so why would I not cultivate the type of energy within it, where I feel it receives all of the hustle and bustle of the outside world and allows me to retire it at the door? During that time, I took inventory and stock of everything and everyone in my life, and realized some things and some people no longer belonged. My journey with those things or people came to its conclusion.
And that happens by bringing things into your world that build and revitalize you, and not anything questionable or at least not keeping questionable things or people around you for too long.
3. Be careful of what you consume
Most of us gained our quarantine weight, I am guilty of that as well. I’ve lost all the quarantine weight, thank goodness! However, I learned during the year of COVID as I like to call it aka 2020, that I needed to be more conscious of what I consume. And food was only part of the equation. I realized media was another. I haven’t been on social media for about a year and definitely feel a positive shift in my well-being, consciousness and overall mental health.
I have also not watched the news at all during this time period even up until now. I respect the fact for those who may feel adamant about watching the news whether it’s for their kids, family or their overall awareness. However, even though I haven’t watched the news it has always found a way to reach me.
Growing up in Florida, I have felt immune to the theatrics that I like to call the news. Every year during hurricane season since I was 10, I would see it. You tune to channel 10, they say the hurricane is a category two. You tune to channel 3, they say the hurricane is a category five. Then you tune to channel 5, and they say the hurricane has reverted to a tropical storm and is on its way now.
You see the speculation with those three statements? However the only fact is that a hurricane is on its way. This is how I feel and still feel about the news surrounding COVID. Where the news in my opinion had so much speculation but such little facts.
I also felt that the news contributed to a scarcity consciousness. Perpetuating this unspoken notion that there isn’t enough. There isn’t enough food, resources, money or vaccines. I honestly don’t know how certain people could watch that narrative being relayed all day long. I feel it built fear within the hearts of many people.
This made me so aware of what I watch on television and how it can affect me. And to understand what your tuning into can sometimes be what you “turn” into. And we can even extend it out to not just media but also, whose company you consume yourself with. What type of conversations you consume and engage in with friends and loved ones. And all of these things play such a vivid role in our world and how we perceive it.
While I do understand that COVID was a tough time for many everywhere, to me it gave me such strength. It revitalized my relationship with the most high. It showed me that in a world full of panic, I could actually find peace.
