Getting Back to Normal. But What Kind of Normal?

This past year has been very challenging for everyone. I doubt there is a person on this planet who hasn’t been impacted by the global pandemic on some level — well, at least we know that we’re not alone then, since we were all united on that front.

But a year after the world was first shocked and dismayed by the events unfolding around us, we’re now hopefully moving back to some sense of normalcy. The question “when will we return to normal?” has been on everyone’s mind — I think all of us have asked it many times. But what is “back to normal?”

In my mind, “back to normal” means reverting back to the way things were — back to the same life and routines we had up until last February. When I think about this, I have to admit that perhaps, we shouldn’t return to that normal. Perhaps we should hope, pray and look forward to a new, better and more sustainable normal.

I know a lot of us have had a great deal of time to do some self-reflecting over the past year: “what have I been doing with my life?” “Am I really happy with my life?” I’ve asked myself these questions a great many times, but I usually put them right out of my mind — the reason being is that because of the pandemic, life is so particularly stressful, that I just haven’t had the strength to ponder such big questions in any meaningful way. However, the concept of a new and better normal keeps popping into my head and I’ve found that for the last couple of weeks, I’m finally able to give it the careful thought such an important question warrants.

What Should Our Normal Be?

A new and better normal will of course be different for everyone and it will need to be a new physical and spiritual normal. What I mean by that is, people will want to get back out there and go to museums, the beach, parties and all the fun stuff we’ve had to forgo for the past year. People will also want to relax and unwind and as the saying goes, “blow off some steam.” No one can blame us, right? But if we do that and then neglect the other part of our life — the mental/spiritual component — will our return to normal be a return to the same rut and routine? While a return to normal will be different for everyone, what should be common among all humans, is an aspiration to genuinely improve our lives and help ensure that we return to a new and improved normal.

A Wake Up Call?

Was the pandemic some kind of wake-up call? A great many people all around the world see it that way — a terrible event in human history, but one in which we can glean vital life lessons:

• Life is precious and we need to try and make the most out of it.
• We need to practice kindness, gratitude and positivity.
• Its better to be a “we” type person who thinks of others, than it is to be a selfish “me” type person.
• Pursuing our life dreams is tremendously more important than wasting our time arguing over politics, watching trash TV or surfing social media.
• We learned that people’s feelings truly do matter, because we craved validation for our own feelings.
• We realized that being a good person really is important and something we should all strive to be.
• And…so much more.

The key thing we need to remember…is to remember. We can’t just talk about it for a while and then revert back to the way we were — we need to look inwards and make the determination that we genuinely want real, lasting change. This is the time to take the talk/thought part out of it and put it into action.

Let us pray and hope that we’re now on the path to safety and healing. I believe that it behooves all of us to do thorough and deep soul-searching, so that we can make long-term positive changes in our life — to re-evaluate our goals and our priorities and to take that giant leap of faith towards true peace and happiness. The good news? No one is standing in our way…but our self. Nothing is holding us back.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. – Psalm 34:19

“Have a sincere desire to serve God and mankind, and stop doubting, stop thinking negatively. Simply start living by faith, pray earnestly and humbly, and get into the habit of looking expectantly for the best.”  – Norman Vincent Peale