Day Twelve: Benefits of Change!

Nothing is as certain as change! Death, Taxes and change! Now what!

Day Twelve

Benefits of Change

Life in the light of the Corona Virus

Nothing is as certain as change.

Certainly, this is a lesson to be learned from the “Stay at home” order that accompanies social distancing during the Corona Virus pandemic.

Society has always taught us that being active in your community is good for everyone. Find something constructive to do. Benefit others and you will benefit yourself. Only part of this mantra still applies. The rest has changed!

Now you benefit others by staying at home. You benefit others by not going out and doing constructive things in the community. At least not non-essential things! You benefit others by being a recluse, by not sharing your aloha, by keeping to yourself. Ultimately during a pandemic, you are benefiting yourself. You are not passing the virus along, overwhelming essential services, maintaining social distance. Yes, things have changed.

Instead of getting together with friends and sharing exercise, entertainment and experience, you are holding them at arm’s length and sharing from afar.

We have been told that we may never return to life as we knew it before Corona Virus. Certainly, those who have lost loved ones to the disease will be forever changed. Those who have experienced the disease firsthand will carry its emotional and spiritual affects with them for the rest of their lives. They may even have physical changes...we just don't know yet!

Financially we have all been affected. No way you can have a nationwide shutdown and not have an economic affect. We have also come to reevaluate our opinions about the government’s role in our lives. Do we give up autonomy for security? How much autonomy? Is it really giving up autonomy, or just changing how it is defined? Change brings with it many questions. Some of these questions will take generations to answer.

We will all experience change in many ways. We will have personal change. Some will be more physically fit. Some will have lasting affects of the virus, or from simply being unable to work for extended periods of time. For some returning to work may force them to face changes in work expectations due to age, training, experience.

We may experience organizational change. Laid off? What does that mean for your work trajectory? Certainly, it means an interruption. Or a disruption. For some it will mean an end. They will have to start over because their prior job no longer even exists. Due to resulting deaths or illness among colleagues, it may represent advancement. Changing workplaces may even create new opportunities that did not exist prior to the virus.

Societal change may also come into the picture. Two weeks at home with a spouse may prove to be a really good opportunity to reassess the relationship, or a really negative, in-your-face kind of interchange. Closure of schools may impact the education and preparation of students. Taking months off may benefit some in allowing time for introspection, and it may hinder others as opportunities have morphed or vanished.

We have little power to resist these changes. The pandemic is the pandemic. The whole of mankind is affected. What happens in Mississippi has an affect on what happens in Goa, India. We are not isolated. We are interconnected. Perhaps the biggest change that will occur is the re evaluation of priorities. Faced with death or illness, personal values may change. What is really important?

Regardless of how these two weeks of isolation have affected us, we are changed. Living with your own thoughts and without the interface with others will obviously bring change with it.

How that will play out is still to be determined.

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Since this was written, we have come to know that two weeks of quarantine was a dream! We are now hoping that an effective way to deal with the virus, and resulting economic challenges may take...well, even years. Talk about change! Thinking that occurred on Day Twelve was prescient!

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This is the twelfth of a series of articles written during the first 14 days of the Corona Virus quarantine on Maui, Hawaii. The thirteenth day will be published tomorrow. Click on https://Karenmac1999.wixsite.com/website-1 or enter this address into your Favorites on your computer. Comments or additions? email Karenmac1999@hotmail.com. Your insights are welcome.