The Blessings of COVID-19

While we are still stuck in the fangs of Covid-19, we all hope that soon the virus will fade away, and we will be able to go back to our old lives. However our old existence will not come back! For better or for worse, live will never be as it was before. Actually, I think it is for the better! Covid-19 has profoundly and positively changed the way how we are conducting our private and professional lives.

For a start, being stuck at home for months has got many of us to questioning the meaning of our old jobs. Many decided that they did not want to return to their nine to five office job anymore, and switched careers for something more meaningful.

But also the ones sticking to their old jobs are experiencing profound change. One of the main changes is in the way how business meetings are conducted. Before Covid, salespeople, managers, and many others would hop into a plane taking multi-hour flights for a short meeting with a customer or manager, assuming that there is no substitute for a face-to-face meeting. Well, now we know there is a substitute: a zoom call. Real estate brokers can sell houses over zoom, while buying a car does not even need the zoom call and can be done with a few mouse clicks.

Teaching and learning has also become much more virtual, particularly on the secondary and tertiary level, where students occasionally come to the classroom to meet the professor and each other, but for the most time just attend college and university classes using videoconferencing.

But also regular meetings changed in character and became more useful, as people can passively participate in boring video meetings where attendance is required - with the camera turned off, while using their time more productively to assist their children doing their homework.

And finally, Covid-19 has really taught us to appreciate our strong ties, our family members and closest friends. If anything, these ties only got stronger during the pandemic, becoming our lifesaver in keeping us  sane and spiritually healthy while being stuck at home. Thank you family and close friends!

So, in summary - "no pain, no gain"! While being stuck at home with all the uncertainties and life-threatening risks of Covid was definitively painful, many positive things have come out of it. I am sure there are more blessings of Covid, I would love to hear if you have other examples of how Covid has changed your live for the better!