One of the most pitiful tragedies of life is refusing to learn from our bad decisions, our bad choices, or refusing to adjust to a life situation that we cannot change. When we stubbornly or idiotically refuse to learn from our mistakes, we consign ourselves to a life of self-inflicted misery.
This pandemic has probably taught most of us hard lessons that, if we are wise, we can use to our advantage in the future – whether we face a permanently new normal or not.
Here are a few hard lessons I am still learning, and hope to apply when needed, to spare myself from unnecessary misery:
Stay away from – avoid, avoid, avoid negativism and negative people at all costs – and start with oneself. Negativism is contagious. It only makes things worse. Never better.
If you’re living with a toxic, negative person and have no choice but to stay where you are, “overcome evil with good.” Be a source of goodness, kindness, affirmation in that hard place. Be intentional. Do something considerate and helpful to someone in your household each day.
Why? Because you’re a certified martyr? Or you’re suffering from the Pollyanna Syndrome? Or you’re hoping that you’ll be appreciated? No.
Do good for the right reason. Do it for God – because He promises to reward you each time you do a good deed for Him! You want to invest in something with guaranteed returns. So whenever I do something nice for someone, I tell God, quietly – “This one’s for you, Lord!” Guaranteed rewards.
Remember, the Bible says we will reap what we sow. So if you sow kindness, you’re guaranteed to reap kindness (many times over).
Now a word of warning – the flipside of that is also true. The bad things you’re sowing will surely bring you tons of bad things, tons of suffering in the future. Hard lesson: keep sowing bad things, keep reaping MORE bad things.
Another lesson I learned during this pandemic is not to get into useless arguments with people – about being vaxxed or not, about who to vote for, about which medicine is the most effective against whatever, whether it’s good to travel at this time or not, etc. etc.
This is not the time to create enemies or argue over things that you have absolutely NO CONTROL over.
Another hard lesson – there’s no shame in getting Covid. Why keep it a secret when you or someone in your family has Covid? Especially when you need prayers and help.
Some people are so quick to post and announce that they got vaxxed, or bought a new car or a new phone or went swimming somewhere exotic – and yet, when they get Covid, SILENCE. As if Covid is leprosy or something to be ashamed of.
Again – there’s no shame in getting Covid. There’s no shame in having problems. There’s no shame in losing your job (unless you did something unethical or criminal). There’s no shame in having a business that folded up. There’s no shame in doing something below your pay grade because you have to support yourself or feed a family. There’s no shame in pulling out your kids from a school you cannot afford anymore.
Hypocrites hide their misfortunes but advertise their successes.
Another hard lesson is – Not having a daily schedule or routine is bad. It causes depression, feelings of uselessness, low self-esteem, a wasted life.
It’s healthy to have a daily routine that keeps us active, productive, balanced, organized. No need to be legalistic about it – let’s just be pleasantly consistent.
Another BIG lesson is to be seriously concerned for the welfare and protection of others. If you know you have Covid symptoms, or were just exposed to others, or you just came from an unsafe place – then please, please stay away from people. Don’t endanger others by exposing them to yourself when you’re unsafe!
Next hard lesson – Keep updated about Covid and what’s happening around you. Do your own research, fact-checking, your own due diligence. Don’t just swallow what mainstream media feeds you. Use your brain to weigh the facts. You have no excuse. The search engines are at your fingertips.
And maybe the best lesson I’ve learned during this pandemic is this: my relationships with the people I love the most deserve my time, best care, respect, attention. No more taking my loved ones for granted! When I give them a hug – after not seeing them in person for a long time – I savor that hug. The most mundane things I do with them become priceless.
Lastly, another hard lesson is this – selfishness breeds more selfishness, and contempt.
When we always put ourselves first, whatever “advantage” we think we got will always rot and turn to poison. It’ll never give us joy or satisfaction. I’ve seen selfishness make a person look ten years older than his age; and it gave him illnesses, real or imagined.
During this pandemic, whenever people chose to give unselfishly, they were blessed way beyond what they gave away. Even if they didn’t expect anything in return. I’ve seen that happen countless times.
The Bible tells us that if we obey Christ and fit into His plans, He will cause everything that happens to us to work for our good. (Look it up! Romans 8:28)
Let that be the foundation of all the life lessons we need to apply – in whatever season of life we’re in.