Steemit Engagement Challenge Season8 Week1: My learning during the pandemic

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"The competent doctor, before giving medicine to his patient, familiarizes himself not only with the disease he wishes to cure, but also with the habits and constitution of the patient." Marcus Tullius Cicero

I cannot help but to start my post with a smile. My son would just love to hear this quote which is mentioned in the contest announcement. I can hear him “I told you so”.

He is a surgeon resident in Ireland for the last four years. When I don’t feel well or when something is wrong I will always phone him for his advice. Every time he gives me the same answer; “Mom, I can tell you what it might be but I cannot help you as I cannot examine you. You have to go and see your house doctor and not tomorrow but today.”
Next time, I try again, but the answer always stays the same.

Covid-19, how I thought we were over it. Not so.

The following was in the news this week;

• The US Energy Department reported that the virus which started the pandemic and spread from a Chinese laboratory is not to be considered to be part of a weapons program.

• For the first time since the start of the pandemic Japanese citizens are allowed to drop their masks when they are in open public spaces.

This morning we had visitors. Pretty soon the conversation turned to Covid-19.
They told us what they went through to get from England to South Africa. It made me realize that the pandemic might be over but Covid-19 is going to be with us for many years to come and not easy to be forgotten.

What do you consider to be the main lesson you learned from the pandemic?

There are so many lessons that not only I, but all of us have learned from Covid-19. Some are more favorable than others. I can fill many pages of a book on what I have learned.

As a person who experienced Covid-19 first-hand the main lesson I have learned is to have COMPASSION.

It is a word with so many facets and meanings.

COMPASSION- “Sympathetic, pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others” as described in a dictionary.

In other words, “to suffer together”. Is this not what we did?

Compassion is the center of so many religions and traditions of countries. It is also the heart of medical ethics, our homes, and workplaces.

Compassion during Covid-19 taught me that;

• We are all loved
• We might think that we are alone but in some way we are all connected
• We all live a meaningful life
• We value our lives
• By showing compassion it can make us feel better
• We can act not only on our emotions but also those of others
• A little bit of compassion can heal a broken body and mind

Mother Teresa herself said,
“If I ever become a Saint I will surely be one of 'darkness. I will continually be absent from Heaven to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”

I have learned that through compassion, sending a needed message, dropping food parcels, lending financial help, and many other ways I could make my light shine for others in a time of desperate need.

Did you have any loss of family or friends because of the pandemic? Can you tell us about it?

We were lucky as we didn’t suffer any losses due to Covid-10. Not in our family and not in our circle of friends.

What we did experience was the suffering of those that were not so lucky. Night after night we sat watching the news. The global statistics website was the most website visited by us. The most voice mail messages we listened to was those shared on our various social media and communication applications about Covid-19.

We lived every moment with my son there where he was working long hours at times in the corridors of hospitals making decisions on who can move on and who not. Silently we cried with him and prayed that he and his family would be safe.

What was the most difficult moment during the pandemic?

For me, the whole pandemic was difficult as I lived in fear. Not only do I have a heart condition but I am also a breast cancer patient. I am high-risk.

Mentally it drained me and staying positive was a huge task. A task that I started fresh each morning when I got out of bed.

My worst nightmare came true not only for me but also for my family when I picked up the virus. From where I still don’t know as I was extra careful.

Till today I believe that my saving grace was that it was towards the end of the pandemic and I already had my second vaccination. Make no mistake, I was sick, very sick. Lifting my body out of bed was a ginormous task. BUT, I was alive and I am still alive!

After all that process, do you value your health more?

Funny enough, we were discussing this question this morning when we had our visitors. The biggest health impact Covid-19 had on people was mentally. So many people are suffering from stress as a result of the pandemic.

Social distancing had a huge impact on people as humans are made to be hugged, to feel that they belong. The mere fact that they had to stay at home and the fear of being infected influenced their physical and mental well-being. Not to mention the fear of losing a job and the financial impact thereof.

As for ME, I was made aware of the importance that I need to take care of myself as nobody else can do it.

• To take my medicine daily is up to me.
• Eating healthy is up to me.
• Exercising regularly is up to me.

Covid-19 has left me vulnerable and there are still days that I feel extremely tired. It is during these days that I close my eyes and say thank you that I was lucky.

It is also during these days that I am reminded that I need to value my health and look after it.

Did the pandemic impact your finances positively or negatively? How did you cope?

I believe that a pandemic can only have a positive financial impact on a handful of lives.

As for the rest of us, we must be divided into two groups, retired and non-retired. We sold our business six months before the outbreak of Covid-19 hence the fact that we fell under the first group. The saying goes that things happen at the right time. Well, for us it did.

Being retired put a lot less financial stress on us during the pandemic. It also put us in a position to help others. I could stock our pantry before the lockdown in South Africa was announced. My daughter regularly changed her status on her social media platforms to “Gone shopping in mom’s pantry”.

Make no mistake, it did not leave us untouched. We now have to compensate for what we have lost and both of us, my husband and I, have to earn an extra income to close the gaps in our retirement portfolio.

We did not live by the 4% rule during the pandemic.

This rule states that when you are retired you cannot live on more than 4% drawings of your investment to enable you to make provisions for 30 years.

We also had to learn that we have to work carefully with our money. We now spend far less than previously and we think twice before we buy anything.

It is going to take us a couple of years to get back to where we were financially before Covid-19.

CO- corona
VI - for virus
D – disease
19 – 2019

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