We Must Have Hope During The COVID-19 Pandemic

In challenging times, like this current COVID-19 pandemic, when you feel like you can’t find hope, always remember that faith, hope, and love are within your heart.

This week, I struggled with several things… my arm (recovering from my broken elbow and surgery) has been very sore as I kick up my physiotherapy exercises (like physical therapy in the US), so I have not been sleeping as well either. Plus our family is now in week 5 of our stay at home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and we are starting to get a little shack-wacky.

But the big ‘bummer’ for me this week is Easter Dinner. The first holiday where our family will not be able to get together for our normal Easter Dinner because of the corona virus pandemic. Finally, I realized the biggest issue I had was that this is the dinner where I normally make a big lasagna, we all gather together to eat, laugh and eat some more. We will be missing my oldest son Ryan, his girlfriend Shawnna, my sister and her husband, and my mom.

Now, we will all be in our respective houses. Separated. This dang virus is getting beyond annoying.

… and then I realized that annoying was not the right word. Bummed is not what I should feel.

Lucky was the actual word I was looking for. Blessed could be another word I should have been thinking of. 

Annoying is not it.

That was my “Covid Moment” when I realized, yes, this is tough. Yes, the state of emergencies everywhere and stay at home orders are changing everything. Yes, we can’t go to the parks, we can’t take the dogs for runs, we can’t even grocery shop together. We can’t have our special holiday dinners together.

But… we are here. We are alive and healthy. Healthy enough to be able to eat that dinner, even if it is not the usual way.

And we HAVE to look to the future, to have hope and faith that this pandemic will end. That we, the people of the world, in every country, will survive this. It is a challenge like no other we have seen, at least not in my lifetime, and like nothing you would ever wish on your worst enemy.

There are devastating losses everywhere, people missing so much more than having dinner together. The world has changed because of this pandemic, and my hope is that we will survive and come out of this with as little loss as possible.

I have to have faith this will happen and as I pondered all of this, I realized how unimportant my being ‘bummed out’ about one special dinner. What I need to do, and what we all need to do is keep the faith and hope that we can make it through all of these challenges. To keep staying in touch with the people I love, maybe we will have our dinner over a Zoom call so we can share that time – but in a safe way.

So today, I have one simple message for you … if you have been feeling like I was earlier this week – bummed out, depressed, stressed and overwhelmed, suffering from a loss, – please know there are people out there thinking of you. Hoping for you. Having faith and sending love that we will all get through these trying times.

If you need help, reach out and ask someone.  You only need to look for the positive stories in the news and social media to see all the support for one another being shared and displayed and given all over the world.

I know my words may not help right now, they won’t pay the bills if you are out of work. They will never make up for losing a loved one, and if you have, I am so sorry. But I do hope they may bring you a little peace and calm, and hope, during this time of year, when so many of us will be missing our families and traditions.