DON’T EASILY BECOME ‘USED TO’

Tuesday: August 11, 2020

For the past 6 months, I have become used to the idea of wearing a face mask for the most part of each day. So for the duration of a four hour flight to Norway, wearing a mask seemed like a really easy feat to attain. But somehow, I was urged to look beyond this moment to the future which should arrive pretty shortly.

I pondered on what it would take for everyone to return to the maximum level or normality. Many even wonder if there will ever be a return to the ‘old normal’ or perhaps, would the current state of affairs become the new normal? In the months to come, will people be confident and feel safe to travel and shop without face coverings or will this return have to be precipitated by the arrival of a vaccine?

It seems like a whole lot of ifs and buts, yet the underlying phrase I wish to highlight is “used to”. The truth is when we become used to a particular way of living, it almost becomes an ethos- an acceptable standard which is then difficult to alter. On a very large scale, change is even harder because it requires the majority of society to be in acceptance and concordance.

Beloved, when we so become used to situations, we stop trying to make them better- we stop trying to solve real problems. I am happy the world is still working on a way out of this crisis with the search for a vaccine. Likewise, let us not just get “used to” situations, but keep working on finding solutions.

When we become “used to”, whether to a good or bad situations, what ought to be in passing or a transition, could become the new normal.

#sly