Brighter Side Amidst Pandemic

Khrisalyn A. Cabarobias

The COVID-19 global pandemic has plundered all aspects of life. Healthcare professionals across the nation are under unprecedented pressure to ensure best patient care while balancing protection of their own health and that of their families. Healthcare systems are struggling to find solutions with limited resources. There is fear surrounding our very existence, and each day appears to bring worse news than the one before. So how do we, as a healthcare community find hope, or even optimism amidst this pandemic? Just as extraordinary medical discoveries have emerged from wartime medicine, many new innovations will happen during this crisis too.

In a crisis, hope can often be the only thing we can hold on top. For many , there is little to be hopeful for the fight against the current pandemic, but like with anything, there is always a bright side- even for the corona virus pandemic.As the world, country by country, begins to shut down and the inevitable feelings of “doomsday” creep into each household, it is important that we continue to find hope and positivity, even in the worst circumstances. While negative news consumes our feeds, here are a few of the brighter sides that have emerged from the corona virus outbreak that can bring us hope for tomorrow in these dire times.

The world is cleaner than ever before. As people all over the world stay inside for either stateissued lockdowns or voluntary self-isolation, fewer and fewer people are hitting the streets and using highly polluting means of transportation such as buses, cars, trains and planes. As one can guess, this change is doing our environment good. Pollution and greenhouse gas emissions have fallen dramatically around the world. As you can imagine, there is a similar story in almost every city around the world, and although it is unclear whether or not this “break” for our environment will create lasting effects for climate change as a whole, it is undeniably a turn in the right direction.

Crisis brings us together. Shared experiences bring us together, even in a crisis. As the world mourns the loss of thousands of valuable human lives and weeps with the essential workers who work tirelessly to try to help people amidst the pandemic, each of us seems to be more willing to lend a helping hand when needed during these uncertain times. From neighbors checking up on each other, to planned nationwide applauding sessions for health care workers, people from around the world, from all different backgrounds are stepping up to show acts of kindness to each other.

You see, when we all feel desperation, anxiety and hopelessness, we start to understand each other a little more, allowing us to feel compassion and a sense of unity with one another. This crisis is sure to bond us as a society and bring us hope for a more peaceful world.

Time for creativity, self-improvement. How many times have we said, “I wish I could work on this, or discover this about myself” only to let the excuse of not having enough time weigh us down? Well, now is the time to put away the excuses, and truly look at what is important to you, and what you want to do for yourself during this time.

Appreciation for everyday workers. When this pandemic comes to close, we will never look at the cashier who came in day after day, putting themselves at risk to ensure you are able to bring home food or the nurses who worked day in and day out without being able to embrace their families at the end of the day the same way. The workers that are still on the streets, or as they are called “essential workers,” are the ones that are carrying us through this pandemic. They are on the frontlines, ensuring the health and safety of each of us in order for us all to beat these hard times. These workers, may it be health care professionals, sanitary workers, police or cashiers, are the ones holding society together, and they are the ones we will appreciate the most when life returns back to “normal.”

Life will never be the same, but maybe for the better. We will not return to what life was like before the pandemic – that is a fact. It is scary to accept change and to step into the unknown, but there is still hope to use this experience, these hard times, and turn it into something good. Our previously busy, hectic lives have come to a halt and will probably remain so for the next six months or so, as some health officials estimate. We, as the world, will enter a time where life will slow down, and we will be more comfortable with the fact that we are producing less, and we have less to prove to our Instagram followers. We will narrow in on what really matters to us. All of these things, I have hope, will only change us, as a society, for the better.

Yes, the corona virus outbreak will forever change us as a world, like many other crises’ have changed the paths of nations; however, one thing is for sure, this pandemic is evidently bringing us together, as we share in the human experience of dramatic change. Things will change us for the better, and we will never take for granted a visit to our grandparents, the embrace of our friends and the smiles shared on the street between two strangers. Even in the worst circumstances, hope exists. Better, more beautiful days are ahead. Just keep pressing on, world.

--oOo-

II at Lauc Pao ES, Lubao West District

The author is Teacher