This Pandemic Is Not The Problem, It’s Us.

People of the world: We need to talk realistically about what we’re dealing with right now.

As people watch, CoVid-19 events unfold, escalating progressively each day. Some countries seem to be freaking out while others don’t seem to care. It makes it hard to know “what comes next”.

World leaders are the first to tell you that “we are in uncharted territory”…a loose way of saying “We are actually making this up as we go, and being REACTIVE to the virus”.

It is not hard to read between the lines of any leader’s announcements, the controlled desperation, the stress as they run from one fire to the next, trying to keep public panic from setting in.

Healthcare is screaming – we don’t have the resources, expect saveable deaths.

Business is saying – we can’t pay employees unless people spend, we will have to start dropping our workforce.

Workers are saying – we can’t feed our family unless there is work. We all hate control being taken out of hands and relying on our government for our short and long term futures, but in this case it seems inevitable. 

The breakdown of the modern world as we know it is happening before our eyes, we haven’t even seen economic poverty yet, governments don’t throw out trillions in “cheques in the mail” for no reason after all. The GFC was a walk in park compared with Covid-19, so don’t make a comparison. Even Facebook is struggling – the very platform you’re likely on now – it’s free because companies pay to advertise to you…and advertising money is drying up fast, in fact by the second. That means the tool you use to communicate on…is drying up.

Our modern technology driven world is being slammed in reverse quicker than we can even comprehend. 

The problem of modern society is that this virus is threatening our behaviour – we like to socialise, we love a BBQ, we like to buy “stuff”, we like to watch sport, and have a drink at the pub with mates. But all of a sudden we are being told “no”, but we should be telling ourselves “no”. 

Our government, like so many other countries, is faced with the almighty task of “changing our behaviour” – the same changes in behaviour you have had to face when you have gone through a separation, broken an addiction, faced your own mortality with cancer, adjusted to having a newborn baby, had to lose weight, lost a partner and more. 

So what does human nature make us do?

We change. 

We change, but only for a short amount of time, and then we go back, 

We return to our old behaviour. 

You’re seeing this play out at the moment. People are ignoring the gradual staged lock down (a wonderful idea as it reduces shock and panic BTW) because the change is too much for them at personal level.

“I’m not sick so it’s not real”.

Some people (and most governments) are giving it a crack, hoping the virus dissipates and life will go back to normal. Others, the minority, are making new behaviours, which ultimately will see the best outcome from Co-Vid. We need that minority to be the majority.

Here is what I think we should all start truly thinking about. Co-Vid has given us the opportunity to step back and rethink what’s truly important. 

So here are some things to ask yourselves:

• Do I have excess Food, Time etc – could I spare some? 
• Could I lend something I don’t really need? If you don’t use it, why have it, what is its purpose? Did you think all that toilet paper was a good idea when you may have caused suffering?
• I have tons of something in the pantry…maybe my neighbours might like it? (Remember social distancing and group restrictions) in fact you could just dump it and run”¦.be selfless they don’t need to know who did it. 
• Check in on people, reconnect with family and friends, talk to them”¦humans need actual conversation and real reactions, not the ones you perceive or make up from speaking with someone on social media.

 At the end of the day, it won’t be the government that brings society back to stability this time around. I use “stability” instead of “normal” because normal is gone…the world has changed and the faster you refocus and you help society, the less poverty will be had and basic human needs will come back to be truly important. Those that don’t make the change, like a typical selfish survivor in an apocalypse movie, nearly always die, don’t they?

Remember CoVid isn’t the problem, it’s us, we need to change. Swallow the pill and fuel the change

Unfortunately most of you will read this and not make any changes…but this is the biggest chance you will ever get to start really making a difference.