What We Learned About Life From COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way all of us live, work, and socialize. While it has been difficult on many fronts, there have been silver linings in that we've all found new ways to adapt and to live with ourselves, with others, and within our social communities. Moving forward, consider the positive elements that have come out of the past many months and look for ways to continue implementing lessons learned in your everyday life.

Love Your Home

While sheltering in place often felt stifling and confining, primarily because many people were afraid to leave home, a lot of people found new comfort in their surroundings. As such, home has a new meaning, and the idea of nesting, beautifying surroundings, and even expanding living spaces to include outdoor areas has evolved.

Continue finding ways to modify your home environment so that it's conducive to living, working, playing, and relaxing. Maybe this means investing more in home renovations than in traveling, making home-improvement projects, family affairs, and looking for ways to make each room both comfortable and practical for your family's needs.

Support Local Business

While all businesses have struggled during COVID-19, many small businesses found themselves in particularly dire straits, especially small, family-owned businesses that operate on a shoestring budget. We've also come to recognize that these are some of the more reliable businesses that help support our local communities and local economies.

Moving forward, Sustainable Connections encourages finding ways to patronize these companies, even if they do charge a little more or take a little bit longer for delivery. By supporting those who support your community, you're part of a reliable chain that we've all come to count on.

You might also consider starting your own local business. If you’ve had an idea kicking around about a business of your own, now is a great time to form an LLC. You can use a formation service to file the paperwork online, saving you both time and money.

Make Time for What Counts

Everyone experienced different kinds of loss during the pandemic, with nearly everyone knowing someone who was negatively impacted as a direct result of COVID-19. It's a valuable lesson for embracing the things that are most important and prioritizing things that make life worth living. Maybe that's a matter of pursuing new hobbies, spending more time with your family, learning how to grow your own veggies, or being creative when it comes to entertainment options, like enjoying the great outdoors. Whatever you value most, find ways to make it a central part of your everyday life.

Nourish Yourself

While we're likely all guilty of becoming binge-watching couch potatoes for at least a portion of the pandemic, we also had to learn how to enjoy cooking and eating at home on a regular basis. This has led many people to try new foods, experiment with new recipes, and make cooking food a family activity. Continue this habit moving forward by shopping at farmers’ markets and local health food stores.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, it’s fun to find inventive ways to make family favorites, as well as experiment with new ingredients and new tastes. This expands everyone's horizons and helps decrease the amount of high fat, high sodium, and processed foods we normally ingest.

Stay Active

There was something about the pandemic that sent many of us into a lockdown state of mind. Things like regular workout and exercise routines seemed relegated to the back burner, all of which has resulted in weight gain, depression, and less-than-optimal health.

Recognizing we can’t take good health for granted, it’s time to think about best practices for regular physical activity moving forward. Maybe this means workouts at home, enjoying physical activity in the form of dance, hiking, or biking, or even just making time to be active outside. Find activities that you enjoy and embrace them to the fullest.

Start a Business

Just about every type of job was impacted during the pandemic, and some people came to realize they couldn't rely on an employer to be there when the going got tough. Many people started their own businesses, or are starting to think about launching a company right now. If this is something that's of interest to you, chart out a business and marketing plan and choose a business structure.

Go Back to School

Some people used the downtime of the pandemic to advance their education, or at least to reevaluate their education and career goals. If you’ve decided you want to do something new, consider going back to school. The nice thing about online educational opportunities is that you have the option to learn at your own pace, from any location. If this is something that's of interest to you, check out what's available online, whether that’s a certification or a degree program.

Even continuing education or professional development opportunities can give you the credentials you need to move forward in your career. Your employer may even provide tuition reimbursement as a form of retention—ask your HR office for information.

Maintain Friendships

How many people reconnected with old classmates, neighbors, and distant relatives during the pandemic? While we’re more connected than ever via technology, we haven’t always prioritized the maintenance of personal connections. The pandemic put many people into a position of relying on others for all kinds of support, which in many cases, led to renewed and deepened friendships and relationships. Continue to maintain those bonds moving forward, and don’t wait for another pandemic to plan a regular Zoom call or virtual dinner date.

Nothing in our lifetime has impacted the way that we live, work, and experience community like the COVID-19 pandemic. While there were most definitely severe difficulties during this time, it also opened eyes to things that are most important to us as individuals, families, and communities that should remain a priority as we move ahead.

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Author: Dean Burgess