It’s hard going but ‘I believe’

I AM an optimist, always have been, always will be. But gosh, it is hard right now to be so. Just when you think it is safe to go back into the water, another shark appears.

For almost two years now we have lived with a great sense of unease. We have been locked down, opened up and locked down again. We have been separated from friends and family members. We have queued for Covid tests, anxiously awaited results, chased vaccinations, while being restricted in movement and what we can attend.

We thought we were on top of the Delta variant of Covid and along comes Omicron. Although less virulent, it is more contagious.

Then the confusion over the accuracy and then availability of rapid antigen tests, and what has up until now been their exorbitant costs compared to similar tests in the UK.

We are now suffering from supply issues much greater than we have previously experienced. There are food shortages, more concerning than the rush on toilet paper that attracted all the media coverage in previous lockdowns.

This week we have watched the absurd case of Novak Djokovic’s eligibility to enter the country and compete in the Australian Open played out in a court of law.

Clearly, someone has stuffed up, the result being Australia has sadly attracted extensively bad publicity overseas.

So where is the light? I so desperately want us to be able to get on with our lives with some predictability. And I consider myself most fortunate. I know that if I am feeling somewhat despondent, there are many, many others doing it so much harder.

It is a truism of life that the ones making all the decisions are well remunerated, have not lost their jobs, and have absolutely no idea what it is like to just attempt to keep going.

The rules, restrictions and requirements are changing every day. Everyone is confused. Our health workers and ambulance officers are exhausted, while their masters take holidays at beach resorts.

The inequalities in the community have never been more pronounced.

I just want to somehow wave a magic wand. I want things to be right again, as we all do.

I want to be able to plan with certainty, to build the things that matter. I want to have fun, but it is as though the lights have been turned off.

They are saying this variant, Omicron, will have peaked within six weeks, and it is less damaging than Delta. I hope so, but that is the best part of the rest of January and February. Then what happens if another variant of Covid appears?

We cannot close down our lives and stop making plans for the future. I have never seen so many shops or restaurants closed, or part closed for the week because too many of their staff are unavailable to work due to exposure and required isolation.

That these staff shortages are taking place over the holiday period when so many of those small businesses had planned to be able to trade to start the recovery from the losses of the past two years is devastating.

It is hard to be optimistic when the levers being pulled are beyond your control, when those levers affect so many aspects of our lives.

So, try as we might, it is difficult to predict what the year ahead holds for us with any certainty. We had hoped 2022 would be better, providing us with more certainty than 2021, but it certainly has not started that way.

So from what source can we draw down elements of hope, when everyone is exhausted, the latest variant of the virus spreading so quickly, living within rules that result in a closing down of holidays, of workplaces, entertainment and fun, and even our access to food?

This is clearly not the Australia we have grown up in. This is clearly a new experience for all of us, yet we must believe that we will come through.

We must believe that collectively, together we will emerge with a greater respect for what we had. A slightly different society. Maybe some major challenges to address and overcome, and from which to learn and improve.

We must believe in our capacity as a society to overcome the disruptions to our lives today, to rebuild, and to look after those who are less fortunate.

We must learn from today to build for the future.

That is exciting and why I am an optimist.