5 Things We’ll Never Take For Granted Again After the Pandemic
Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd be in the situation that we have all been in over the last two months. It's something that our parents and even our grandparents haven't seen. It's been hard. Harder for some than others. One thing I know for sure is that I will never take these little things for granted ever again, and for that I am grateful.
1. Yesterday I got my hair cut and colored for the first time in three months. I totally took for granted the opportunity to make a hair appointment before all of this hit. Hair day is a good day. Everyone knows it can make you feel like a new person. I'll never take for granted being able to go get my hair done again. I also felt gratitude for the ability to pay for it. There is not a day that goes by that I don't realize how lucky I am to have a job and bring home an income.
2. I have food in my cupboards and fridge. Before the pandemic, I completely took having food in my house for granted. I was grateful for it to an extent, but I had never experienced going without it before. We can buy things like toilet paper, paper towel, flour, and sugar right now and it feels like a luxury to have these things. I'll never take essentials for granted again.
3. If you are a parent, you have been playing teacher to your kids for weeks. I have learned I am a horrible teacher. I get easily frustrated. I don't know the answers and most of the time I end up telling them to look it up on Google. I struggle balancing my own work and making sure my kids get their work done. Maybe I sound like a bad parent, but I will be grateful to send my kids off to school in the fall (if that happens).
4. I'm a hugger. Right when I meet people I tend to hug them more often than even shake their hand. We don't do any of that anymore and who knows if we will in any sort of near future. They have even talked about getting rid of the gesture of shaking hands al together. If we ever get to hug casually again, I will certainly recognize how special that is. If you're not a hugger, you're probably fine with this, but I just ordered a weighted blanker online because I need my hugs!
5. Going to places like the movies, a concert, or being able to go out to dinner. I never thought we'd live in a world without these things and when they returned I know I'm going to bask in all the joy that these types of activities bring.
As I'm writing all of this, I'm realizing that in many ways a lot of us (if we have been fortunate to hold onto our job and our health) we have gained more than we have lost.