Being a senior in college graduating in May 2021, I definitely missed out on a traditional last year of school. Between having all senior events canceled and trying to find a job with the new remote world, this school year has definitely not been ideal. I spent a lot of time feeling upset and complaining about the current situation I am in. I had to give myself a reality check and come to the realization that my senior formal being canceled is such a small problem compared to what many others are dealing with. I decided to reflect on this past year and look at what I learned from and some positive takeaways. Here are four lessons the pandemic and social distancing has taught me.
1. It is okay to be alone. I have definitely always been the type to need alone time, but not for long. I liked being alone for short periods and then would have to surround myself with people so I did not get lonely. This pandemic forced me to be alone with myself and my thoughts. I had to be comfortable with the uncomfortable feeling of being by myself. One way I did this was trying to find more hobbies I enjoyed doing. I started cooking meals at home more and would challenge myself to make at least one new recipe per week. I suggest doing the same. Being alone but doing activities you like make the time go by faster and more enjoyable.
2. Take time to relax. I think this is one of the biggest lessons everyone learned during the past year. Life before quarantine was extremely fast paced. Most people would agree they did not give enough time to themselves. I spent more time with my family this past year than I can ever remember in the past. Now as life starts to come back to normal, I try to schedule time to take for myself to wind down after busy days. I hope many people remember to practice something similar to this moving as life slowly starts to pick up the pace again.
3. Nothing is guaranteed. I know, I know, this is one of the most cliche statements I can make. But really, what better way to learn this than from the past year. If someone told us a year and a half ago that we would be wearing masks in public, doing drive by birthdays, and working completely over zoom, we would not believe them. Everyone has missed out on something in the past year that they were looking forward to. Enjoy the moment and do not take anything for granted.
4. I can not control others. I am sure we all know a few people who did not take this pandemic seriously. They saw a lot of people, posted it on instagram, traveled, the list goes on. For a while I was very frustrated at people who did this. I spent a lot of time watching them on social media and being angry about it. I had to realize that as much as I wish I could have these people socially distance, there is truly nothing I can do. People think differently than the way you do. To be honest, it took me a long time to realize I can not control others. I only have control over myself and my actions. So I will do my part and if others choose not to, I have to stop letting it bother me. Once I realized this, I saw a complete change in my mental state. I was focusing more on bettering myself than being angry at what others were doing. This is not easy, especially if the person is close to you, but learn to put energy where it belongs and where changes can actually be done.
These are just four lessons I learned from COVID-19, but the list definitely goes on. I hope you can take time to reflect on what this past year has meant to you. The world is definitely going to continue to be different than what it was a year ago but eventually everything will go back to normal. Remember to be easy on yourself, it is a difficult time.