Reflection during COVID times
Well, I was wondering if I should title my new blog as COVID times or "END TIMES", as many would like to call it. Honestly, I do not feel that it is still the end. I believe so, because the Word of God is yet to be preached in many tribes of the world. Hence, the point is, it is not yet THE TIME because Bible clearly says in Matthew Chapter 24, as below:
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away[a] and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come! ...
So getting back to what I was intending to write originally, I had ample amount of time in my hand and being a person who overthinks about anything and everything, I reflected on a bucket-load of things. I love to pen down my thoughts, also reflection on time management was a part of my school assignment- so one shot, kill two birds - not sure if I have done the translation quite right from Malayalam ( Oru vedikk randu pakshi) to English.
In the first week of February, most of us heard on the news about an unknown respiratory illness in Wuhan and several people being affected by the same. Little did I know that this unknown respiratory illness is going to change the lives of people across the globe. Soon after, it was declared as an epidemic in Wuhan. Following few weeks, people from other countries began to show similar symptoms and a handful of them were tested positive for COVID-19, a novel virus, including Canadians who had recently traveled. And then there was no stopping, for it started spreading like a wildfire in many countries. Eventually, the World Health Organization declared it as a pandemic. If this was not enough, soon after, companies were doing mass layoffs to cut down their budgets as a result of an anticipated economic recession.
I was one of the fortunate people in the organization not to get laid off, but many of my friends were laid off from their respective job positions and many of them by God's grace were able to find work in different organizations, after a while. In the blink of an eye people were gone. All these changes did have a transient effect on me emotionally because we used to hang out together during lunch time or after work at times and that ceased to exist. However, I overcame that feeling because we could still hangout over a cup of coffee during the weekends. Additionally, Province of Manitoba had declared a state of emergency by then and everyone was recommended to maintain social distancing. Probably a week later, I kind of started developing minor sore throat, ear pain and mild chest pain which was not persistent. I was recommended to follow 14 days self isolation by the public health as a precautionary measure. These days of lock-down were a bit challenging but reading, writing, assignments, tests, Netflix, family zoom calls and friends made it easier to navigate through this journey.
I did not happen to go to any of the supermarkets during this time, but I heard from my friends and family that people were shopping insanely, especially when it comes to hoarding toilet papers, sanitizers and disinfectant wipes. And, as a result, there were shortage of basic amenities in the supermarkets. People lining up in front of Walmart and Costco was all over social media and covered in many news channels.
In terms of business continuing to operate, many changes had already taken place, and many business operations will continue to evolve as time goes on. First and foremost were the needs to shift as many employees to work from home, and thus increased the sales of formal tops, blouses, shirts and no one wanted to spend on pants, trousers or denims because it was time to get comfortable in your pajamas.
Signs of the End of the Age
... 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away[a] and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come! ...
So getting back to what I was intending to write originally, I had ample amount of time in my hand and being a person who overthinks about anything and everything, I reflected on a bucket-load of things. I love to pen down my thoughts, also reflection on time management was a part of my school assignment- so one shot, kill two birds - not sure if I have done the translation quite right from Malayalam ( Oru vedikk randu pakshi) to English.
In the first week of February, most of us heard on the news about an unknown respiratory illness in Wuhan and several people being affected by the same. Little did I know that this unknown respiratory illness is going to change the lives of people across the globe. Soon after, it was declared as an epidemic in Wuhan. Following few weeks, people from other countries began to show similar symptoms and a handful of them were tested positive for COVID-19, a novel virus, including Canadians who had recently traveled. And then there was no stopping, for it started spreading like a wildfire in many countries. Eventually, the World Health Organization declared it as a pandemic. If this was not enough, soon after, companies were doing mass layoffs to cut down their budgets as a result of an anticipated economic recession.
I was one of the fortunate people in the organization not to get laid off, but many of my friends were laid off from their respective job positions and many of them by God's grace were able to find work in different organizations, after a while. In the blink of an eye people were gone. All these changes did have a transient effect on me emotionally because we used to hang out together during lunch time or after work at times and that ceased to exist. However, I overcame that feeling because we could still hangout over a cup of coffee during the weekends. Additionally, Province of Manitoba had declared a state of emergency by then and everyone was recommended to maintain social distancing. Probably a week later, I kind of started developing minor sore throat, ear pain and mild chest pain which was not persistent. I was recommended to follow 14 days self isolation by the public health as a precautionary measure. These days of lock-down were a bit challenging but reading, writing, assignments, tests, Netflix, family zoom calls and friends made it easier to navigate through this journey.
I did not happen to go to any of the supermarkets during this time, but I heard from my friends and family that people were shopping insanely, especially when it comes to hoarding toilet papers, sanitizers and disinfectant wipes. And, as a result, there were shortage of basic amenities in the supermarkets. People lining up in front of Walmart and Costco was all over social media and covered in many news channels.
In terms of business continuing to operate, many changes had already taken place, and many business operations will continue to evolve as time goes on. First and foremost were the needs to shift as many employees to work from home, and thus increased the sales of formal tops, blouses, shirts and no one wanted to spend on pants, trousers or denims because it was time to get comfortable in your pajamas.
While for some, this felt like a great shift, for others who have children at home or have limited internet usage, attempting to work productively from home was extremely challenging. For many organizations, it was impossible to fully carry out business with every employee at home and so for those that have to continue coming in there could be a multitude of ways COVID-19 will affect them. Employers were supposed to provide increased sanitization resources and come up with simple but key protocols for employees to follow so everyone can feel a level of safety. In my husband’s work as a media personnel, he had to put in more hours and come up with creative solutions to help get various group programming into an online format while maintaining 6 feet distance from others as much as possible. He also has to sanitize technical equipment like computers, cameras and microphones every time another staff or volunteer has come in to help with a daily broadcast. My sister who lives in Edmonton works as a nurse and being a frontline worker during COVID times was a bit challenging for her, considering she has a 6 year old at home. But life goes on...yeah, right!
COVID-19 hasn’t specifically changed how I manage my time except that before I was inclined to take a bus to and from work but then, I've been catching a ride with my husband and taking a company paid taxi home. It's actually been a little bit shorter commuting. It's unfortunate that so many restaurants are closed because I love trying out new food and cuisine. However, both in eating out less and going out only for necessities, this has resulted in us spending less and we have been able to save more money. If this continues, we will be able to use this extra money towards saving up for an upcoming leisure trip, we hope to do in few months of time. Also, the good news is that I definitely tried some new North Indian dishes with the help of YouTube at home, and some were spicy and the rest were not. Additionally, I found more time by myself to read and do creative writing, which was somewhere lost in the busyness of life.
Well...that's mostly the gist of everything I wanted to write and now awaiting normalcy to return to our small world. Sayonara!!!
-PeeJay
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