The year 2020 has been one helluva year, and that is putting it mildly!
Lessons learned will certainly be stamped in many of our hearts and minds; some really hard lessons but mighty valuable ones that I hope we all remember!
In the beginning
The negatives around Covid19 had a ripple effect:
• The silence on the part of health officials for a full six weeks when the Coronavirus first reared its ugly head, as that is how the virus was spread to the rest of the world initially...
• Led to many unnecessary deaths not only from the virus, but from the high number of suicides following financial ruin, caused by...
• Mishandling by governments in many parts of the world, which led to world economies being destroyed!
Positive consequences of COVID19
Thankfully and surprisingly, despite what many believe, there are many positive consequences of Covid19, and that’s what I am sharing with you today as my response to @ecotrain’s
1. Cryptos are immune to COVID19
Our country’s draconian lockdown hit our little tourism business, a BnB, really hard; but it gave me time to take stock and change my marketing strategies as a big chunk of our reservations come from business bookings.
Having blogged on this platform for just over three years, my focus has always been on blogging, not so much on the fact that I could actually use my Hive and turn it into rands and cents.
When our income dried up for three months during our hard and draconian lockdown, Hive magically came to the rescue!
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2. Making do with what’s on hand - saving money and reducing wastage
During those three months of hard lockdown, only supermarkets and pharmacies were open and we kept our shopping expeditions to a minimum, as Mom Lily who will be 90 next year, would be at risk should any of us pick up the virus.
When it came to meal prepping, I learned to improvise and check the pantry and use what was hiding in the back of the cupboard, whereas in the past I would simply jump into the car and run to the food store, often buying unnecessary items.
Wastage was cut down as I decluttered and found stuff that I’d forgotten about; those items I’m ashamed to say would have been thrown out as they would have expired.
I started baking my own bread which is much healthier and tastier as well.
3. The importance of becoming self-sustainable
This was a very valuable lesson as I found it difficult finding some basic fresh produce on the shelves and we started spending more time on our veggie and herb garden.
During this time, I discovered that there already were things to be harvested in the garden; like pumpkin tendrils full of nutrition and really delicious cooked up with a potato and mashed up.
We already had rainwater harvesting tanks, and this is vital here in our country with water scarcity and many water services failing to deliver as the infrastructure is not maintained properly, nepotism is high with skilled and experienced people being replaced with buddies or family; a sad state of affairs indeed.
However, service levels went down even more during the Covid19 with skeleton staff, encouraging many home owners to have these tanks installed.
We also had time on our hands to do all those repair jobs around the house.
A number of people who became unemployed, took the bull by the horns and set up their own small businesses, finding gaps in a new world market and are finding themselves busier and more fulfilled than ever before.
4. Becoming more health conscious
The dangers and the unknowns around the Coronavirus, further spurred on by the media repeatedly showing footage of the horrors unfolding in Europe; really instilled fear into the hearts of many.
This however made us realise that we needed to take charge of our own well-being with immune boosters, vitamins, good old-fashioned hygiene practices, eating healthy and starting exercising regimes.
We further avoided running to the doctor for any little ailment and remembered all the old folk medicine, using herbs from the garden and the like. Certainly much better in the long term than popping antibiotics or other chemical substances which really only treats the symptoms but is not getting to the root of the problem.
We actually skipped the flu season and had no need for cough syrups, nasal decongestants and the like.
5. Quality Time with Family
We started creating our own entertainment at home – board games came out; old-fashioned puzzles were built; we started talking to one another about our deepest feelings for the first time in years as time stood still during hard lockdown; made popcorn and watched movies together.
This was a time to heal broken relationships in many homes, but also a time when real feelings came to the fore and some realised that they were living a lie and that it was time to move on in order to be true to themselves and stop pretending that things were ok.
My list continues
My list goes on and on and I'm going to mention just one more but will end it there.
The positives of desk-bound workers working from home and not having to work in a closed office space which often leads to sick building syndrome, causing all kinds of ailments; having online Zoom or Skype meetings or tuition; all of these reducing fuel emissions which makes for a cleaner environment, giving nature and all the creatures here on earth a chance to recover.
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