Concerning Covid

Hi there, and welcome back to the blog.

If this is your first time at the website, welcome. It is always nice to have new visitors here. If you like this post, might I recommend another of the posts on the site? You might like that one too, and we’ll continue to see more of you back here in the future!

If you are a returning visitor to the blog, then welcome back. It really means a lot that you’ve taken the time to read multiple posts on the site.

I know many people are struggling through this Covid-19 pandemic, and it is literally the one thing the entire world has in common at the moment.

People are frightened for their health, the health of their loved ones, their careers, potential job opportunities and their businesses.

Since the beginning of the first lockdown imposed on Ireland in March 2020, a lot has changed for many people, who have had to adjust to what people are now calling “the new normal”.

Covid-19 has changed many things for many people, and almost everybody has had to adapt and make sacrifices in some way. It is the same for everybody around the world.

For me, 2020 was supposed to go very different to the way it did. So many family occasions that we were getting ready to celebrate were put on hold for now, or some celebrated online or postponed to times when they were safer to hold.

It was a shame to miss so many events that all of the family were looking forward to, in particular, my mother’s 70thbirthday at the beginning of the first lockdown and other important birthdays, communions and anniversaries. I was also disappointed that my graduation from the University of Limerick was postponed in August 2020.

I was also part of those who cocooned as I live with elderly parents and had a front-row seat to how hard it was to stay inside and not get to see any other family members for a full two months from the beginning of March to the May bank holiday weekend. It was not an easy thing to do for anyone. Still, we knew it was of the utmost importance to prevent anyone in the house from getting sick and potentially having dangerous consequences due to the virus.

Missing family celebrations was one thing we all missed out on and disappointed us a great deal. It wasn’t easy to go through the year, inside for the most part, as we went through dates on the calendar that we should be celebrating for one reason or another.

Of course, this is nothing compared to the nearly 5,000 people in Ireland (as of writing) who sadly lost their lives to this insidious virus or the thousands of other families who were sadly affected by these tragedies. Their family friends usually not even being allowed to be in attendance to say goodbye to the departed person. Either by the virus or something else.

To be honest, I went into this pandemic with an expectation, as I’m sure we all did, and my expectations were unmet time and time again.

I expected my fellow human beings to abide by the restrictions imposed on us by the Government in an attempt to subdue the spread of the virus, and it mostly went well at the beginning. People were aware of the severe threat the virus posed, and people abided by the restrictions.

However, when things started going downhill, I was disappointed to see the many people protesting and gathering in all of our major cities throughout the country. I felt annoyed that people were not showing the respect they should be showing to people who were doing their best to abide by the rules for such a long time. It was a blow to hear all of these stories about gatherings happening and protests taking place, surely these would just prolong the length of time the virus continued to thrive in the country. I wondered why people didn’t seem to get that. It won’t be able to move on its own, so why move it voluntarily?

People don’t move = virus doesn’t move. Simple.

But the virus isn’t the only thing people are concerned about, and I understand that. People are worried about their businesses and livelihoods being affected and dominated by these constant lockdowns and re-openings. I know that can’t be easy, and we are all viewing this situation through different lenses and what we feel is most important to us.

Along with other people in the past sixteen months or so, I have found it challenging to cope with the new situation and have had to get help with my mental health, as it’s been so difficult. Even though I was struggling beforehand, the various lockdowns have exacerbated the situation. I don’t think I’ve ever really felt comfortable in therapy, but it is a great tool to use when you are finding things hard and helps you to accept things as they are with no judgement of the current situation. I have come to learn this is called equanimity; if you can just let things be as they are without any expectation and no judgement, it prevents overthinking about the past and getting anxious over what may or may not happen in the future.

Vaccinations are being rolled out as quickly as possible across the country to beat the latest variant of the virus ‘Delta’. With our final cohort able to get vaccines through the pharmacy from last Monday, I think it is okay to be cautiously optimistic about finally getting out of this thing.

In closing, I just want to thank both new and old readers again and hope that you have enjoyed reading. I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and if you enjoyed it, I hope you will come back for future posts on the blog. I also hope the post wasn’t too depressing and that there was a message of hope spread in there somewhere to which you can all hold on.

Until next time.

Warmest regards,

James.