It will be recorded in the far-away future that this was the time in the long history of the foibles of mankind when a nearly mad world, caught up in its farcical war of market dominance, technological superiority and climatological invincibility, was taught the much needed lessons of true human hood by the novel coronavirus and a disease known as COVID 19.
This disease has taught me these five lessons.
Fear Is Infectious and Stupidity Is Contagious: The internet and social media brings everyone to the game. And as they come so do they come with their personalities, intents and mental acumen. Some come to inform, and rightly so. Some to share their experiences and to encourage. Some to inspire and the rest to learn. But there is a perfidious fewthat is growing in geometric proportions. People who love to scare others. People who love to bring out the worst in every situation. The more you listen or read them, the more they achieve their goal of spreading fear. And this fear is not necessarily based on the truth, but on what is termed fake news. These people have professionalized it. This fear is infectious. It spreads. And as it does, it sows stupidity,which exists because in most people fear actually impacts the faculty of reason and common sense. And when that happens, people buy into the craziest of things, because they are intrinsically intellectually lazy. They find it easier to believe than to question, even at the point of self-peril once their prejudices and beliefs are well served. So I learnt to stay away from the madding crowd. To keep my consumption of COVID-19 related news, videos and articles to reputable news channels and sources.
Food Is Thy Medicine: I learnt that food has more uses than quenching hunger. I discovered the properties, uses and values of fruits, vegetables and the likes. Their healing qualities. It has been a new field of exploration for me that has fascinated, encouraged and empowered me. That good and healthy eating, is a guarantee for great health and immunity and thus learning how to eat well and how to use foods as medicine is akin to building wealth. Thank you COVID-19.
We Are More Alike Than We Are Different: It brought to me the true meaning of human hood. That we are basically the same irrespective of our differences and when true calamity strikes it affects us all, regardless of how far away we might be from the point of land fall. That if we do not show concern for what is happening to someone else, somewhere else, the thing that has befallen them would definitely befall us. COVID-19 has given more truth to the dictum, ‘A stitch in time, saves nine’ and the Ubuntu mantra ‘if it is good for you, then it is good for me.”
Time Can Be Measured By Experience: I have always thought that time is measured by result. That you valued the time spent on a task based on the result obtained. But this period has made me understand that the experience of getting that result is also a worthy measurement of time. The one who ate a meal fast to do other things, hasn’t spent their time better, than the one who ate the meal slowly and savoured the taste of the meal, the act of eating itself and the conversations that was done while eating. I am becoming less result oriented and more experience oriented. I want to experience the act of living my life more.
Being Habitually Busy Is Not A Virtue: I have realised that positive relationships are what truly matter. And that because society somehow values people who are always busy, a lot of us are lost in the sea of work. We are less efficient, because we do not know how to prioritise what truly matters, and in so doing, we are not efficient in the management of time. If I know that I have to spend time with people that matter to me, instead of taking advantage of their unfailingly support by embracing work infinitely, I will try to finish my tasks as quickly as I can while maintaining the highest quality or standards, so that there will be ample time to spend on the things that truly give life meaning. Things such as family, friends, volunteerism, fellowship, hobbies and spending time to truly discover self.
