There is something troubling surfacing my mind. It is our recovery time from 2020. The year that began with the passing of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, then a global pandemic, economic decline, and racial turmoil.
For a moment, the world stopped in its tracks to take the necessary steps to beat this virus, look ourselves in the face, and address racial inequality. We literally went on lockdown.
Then we got comfortable. As cases around the globe began to decline in the summer, we found ourselves engaging in small, yet social activities, traveling, and coming closer to living the lives we did prior to the breakout.
We were fools. With warning signs of the virus resurfacing, no one took it seriously and many people continued to perish. For the most part the world went back to square one, except for some fortunate to head back to work. Here is where I have trouble sleeping at night.
As valuable as work is, 2020 relieved how reliant we are on work at any cost. It does not matter if you dread working, your boss sucks, and you would rather do anything else. Work will always be there and when offered the chance to go back, you are going!
I am worried. Not so much because we are reliant on work but because it is evidence that we are losing our identity because of our attachment to it.
The year 2020 was heartbreaking and should have been a life-altering moment that allowed us to discover something within ourselves and acquire deep learning so that when the tide turned, we would come back stronger. But it does not appear that way.
The curtain was pulled back for just a moment and everyone returned to their normal lives, being disrespectful to one another and valuing themselves over everything and anything else. So, I question why this is? Why does it take a deadly virus and racial injustice literally bringing people to their last breath before we can shed kindness? Why does it take widespread death before we learn to live? And why does it take losing our jobs or the threat that we consider what our real purpose is in life? The simple answer is because we take it for granted.
Living in an autonomous world where we expect things with little effort and feel cheated when we do not get our way is problematic. We are not taught to question, doubt, think for ourselves, or go against the grain.
When we go back to a routine that is not good for you, it should come as no surprise when blind-sided by stress, depression, anxiety, financial misfortunes, or a myriad of things. We can blame it on the economy, but the truth is, it is our fault because we have not learned.
We have not learned that life is not set up for us to be comfortable and go with the flow. Life has and always will present itself as a challenge where those who find meaning and purpose through the unexpected are rewarded.
There is nothing wrong with returning lives that support us. But we must learn not to live on autopilot where the only thing we value is ourselves and busywork. We need to value proactive lifestyles where we hope for the best yet prepare for the worst. One where every action makes us better and allows us to see tangible growth.
We can grope, complain, and make excuses but at the end of the day, we need to think about what we would do if we only had one shot. Because without prior notice there may be a moment went that is all you have left.
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