Preparing for the end

It is not the end of life, it is the end of the frantic period we have been in for the past 20+ months. Will it really be the end? Is it the beginning of the end? How must we now prepare for this new period?

Our feelings, mental condition, even our spirituality had been challenged the past so many months don’t you think? That is on top of the physical deterioration for some and physical repair for others. So, is it simply now just getting back on the bus, so to speak, and life goes on?

I think not. I think that all of these events happened for a reason. For the world to change and for each person to change. Two years, almost, was given to each one, each company, each family to reflect, think, change or give up. If you are reading this, you are a survivor. And that means you have been selected to go on. Call it Darwinian, call it unfair, but yes, a selection happened in the last 22 months and you have been reserved a place in the next season.

So, if scientists are right on schedule, this year may be the last year of peaks and troughs and by 2023 the new world would have already unfolded for all of us. So let us use this time, this year to prepare for the end of a pandemic which will be endemic and, if I heard right, COVID-19 will then be as ordinary as the seasonal flu.

Where to start?

• Keep a supply of masks for your family. Yes, like we see in Japan and Hong Kong, it is normal for people to wear masks when they go to public places. Masks are ubiquitous. Masks are an essential.

• Buy a box of home test kits. Learn to use them. Know when to use them (there is a window of time when they are most effective and reliable).

• Keep the habits of staying clean, taking a shower when coming from outside, washing, washing, washing hands. Have that sanitizer everywhere in the house, office, car and purse.

That is for protection of yourself, your family and others.

Another Aha! moment might be about where you stay, sleep or otherwise live.

• Learn to sleep with natural ventilation or fresh air. Toss the aircon use and the best way to train is during summer. Too warm? Get an inverter aircon which also is eco-friendly and cools you while saving energy.

• Remove plastic bags as the virus sticks on them, they say. Use ecobags, paper bags and reusable microfiber bags.

• Use natural soaps, cleaners and healthier surface disinfectants as we will inhale the vapors more with increased use of these cleaners and disinfectants. Go natural.

• Ventilate rooms rather than spraying or keeping perfumed candles to deodorize your work spaces. Clean has no smell.

• Create an isolation room or area, just in case someone has to isolate or quarantine. If your space is limited, find an alternative sleeping place like a relative’s, a dorm or hotel when you need to leave your home. But know your options now rather than later.

You have probably already settled in your job, career or business by this time. Is this the choice now? Then prepare for flexibility. For jobs, it is work from home or hybrid; for businesses it is keeping it manageable and tight; for careers, we need to think of a second job or career or even an alternative which will no longer upend us should there be another lockdown, another alert level or, God forbid, another surge. Make it COVID-proof or COVID-ready. Any job, career or business should now be tested against all of these or we would never have learned after almost two years of a roller coaster ride.

And for the rest of society, we must now embrace a world where people would rather be safe than sorry. That means less people throwing caution to the wind by going back to karaoke nights, crowded concerts and crowded malls. Choose alternative social activities.

That means people will learn to enjoy the simpler things: staying within a bubble, eating good food at home, learning a new safe hobby and making a career out of our skills but keep in mind: it will not be like before.

If you have read this far, you know that each one of us could be the change maker. Tell yourself: I am ready for change. It will never be the same again. Keep the memories. Enjoy your photos and recollection of times past.

Until you face the truth that life will be different from hereon, you will not be ready. We just need to secretly assess our strengths to do this and agree with our loved ones that this is the way to accept the end – the end of the pandemic.

Now, make a checklist of things you still need to accept as a family, as a couple or even as a business. You survived this. You are made of a different kind of strength. You can carry on and enjoy what the new world has to offer: Greener spaces, Kinder people, Better food, Time with family and loved ones, Traveling together as a bubble.

Future-proof your home, your business, your group. Everyone must be on the same page. We did not watch the peaks (30,000+ cases) and lows (900+ cases) only to return to our old ways.

I am seeing and hearing more of it now. “Hi, I’m just getting out of a COVID bout. I will deliver after my test, OK?” And we say, “Fine, see you then.” It will be that kind of normal. Or “COVID season has come. Wear your masks in public places.”

We must prepare, plan and finally accept it with open arms. Otherwise, we may not live long enough to see the end of this. Truly, we must prepare for the end. The end we all are hoping for is near. Hang in there.