Health Science Reviews

by Zwile Zungu

It’s been decades after the last pandemic, although we have seen outbreaks of some diseases in some regions of the world like Ebola, no one predicted the impact of COVID-19 on our livelihoods. The words “new normal” have been mentioned several times, but is everyone prepared for the new way of living? What about all the plans we had in the old way of living? How long is the new normal going to last until there is another new normal? We all have dreams and life goals; some are short-term, and some are long-term. The pandemic forced a lot of people to pause their dreams. But how does one resume the paused dream and pick up the same momentum?

This pandemic taught me the importance of flexibility things will go our way every time, Gayle Forman was quoted “You win some, you lose some”. The trick is to never lose hope and learn to live with what life gives you. Mandy Ingber once said, “no matter what twists and turns your life offers you, your ability to be adaptable and flexible will help you to stay open to all of the hidden gifts that difficulty may offer.” I had plans to start a business in 2020 but neither of that was possible, because of the COVID-19 restriction. Does this mean I have failed? Of course not, this delay has made me realise that I should not be hard on myself because some things didn’t go as planned but I should look on the brighter side.

During the lockdown, I got a chance to spend a lot of time with my family and learn things I never got the chance to because I was always away from home due to school. I also got a chance to be an active member of the community in small youth forums exchanging ideas, this assisted me to change my approach to my business of interest. I got other people’s opinions that I can add to make my plan an even better one. In my mind now I appreciate the delay because it made me better prepared about the things I will be doing.