2021: Is COVID-19 The New Normal?

Like it or not, COVID isn’t going to mysteriously vanish in 2021. 
Even if a vaccine comes in, our approach to health issues will continue to change forever. 

In today’s episode I talk about how we need to learn to live with it, pull together and move forward – not just for ourselves, but for the next generation that’s watching how we address these unprecedented challenges. 

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Transcript

Happy New Year, welcome. 

The obvious thing is COVID 19. We’re in 2021 and I’m still talking about COVID -19 – we all are. Scary thought isn’t it? Two years. 

We’re here and, in my opinion, COVID-19 is going nowhere. It’s a part of our lives and will be forever. This is the new normal, and the quicker we can accept it, the quicker we can acknowledge what’s going on and say ‘it is what is it’, and all come together and work together, the quicker we’ll be able to heal and understand that we have to live with COVID 19. 

I’ll tell you something small you may not have realised.

We all typically have a New Year’s Resolution. We all talk about it during December and we’re acting on it during January. “I’m gonna get fit, start eating right, etc’. In all honesty – I’ve heard no talk this year, no such talk at all. 

And I’ll tell you why. I think deep down in our hearts and in our heads we want to just survive what’s going on. We want to survive COVID. Whatever that means to anyone – financial, health wise, keeping our family safe, happiness, whatever it is.

What I’m gonna say to you is STOP waiting for a day where we’re gunna get up and go ‘COVID is finished!’
 
 Stop waiting for a day where our PM or Premiers or an International Doctor is going to say “Guys, there’s no more COVID, it’s all good” – that’s not going to happen. We’re here, and we’re stuck here. 

I’ll tell you why. 

Let’s say a vaccine comes in – even if it kills the COVID-19 strain off, ANY kind of flu or illness that comes back into our community, we will automatically be back on edge. Whether it’s or government, our businesses or our communities, we’ll be straight back on edge. Do we need to go into lockdown? Do we need restrictions? Do we need to start wearing masks again? That’s what’s going to happen. 

The masks – I was out at the cricket for the SCG Test. I go to the cricket every year and this year I was walking around with my mask. I have a way of wearing it on my wrist when it isn’t on my face, so it sits like a watch. I’m telling you, a lot of people are gpoing to keep their masks, whether on their face or elsewhere, for years to come – I mean YEARS. 

So what I’m trying to preach is DON’T WAIT. Get on with your life right now. Don’t wait for flights to start, don’t wait for no restrictions in restaurants, don’t wait until you can walk around without a mask, those days are a long way away. We need to get on with our lives – our kids are watching us at the moment. 

Speaking as a parent, remember this – we’ve got our kids watching every single move we make. We’ve got to show them that life can be tough, and that when it IS tough, we’ve still got to act, we’ve still got to move on. We have to continue to live our lives. That is so important. 

And if you’re a youngster  - guys, life isn’t easy. Life will always give you hurdles and you’re joining us at a moment in history, a hurdle we’ve never faced as adults. But it is what it is. 

It’s not what’s going on at the moment that’s important, it’s how we fight it and get on with it. That’s what’s important. We’re blessed as human beings, we’re born resilient. We can fight, that’s who we are. We’re hunters, from Day One we’ve learnt how to survive. We know how to survive, and this is just something else. 

What I urge people to teach their kids is how to fight. Our language is very important. Don’t put them in a mindset where they believe everything will magically ‘be OK’ by some arbitrary date. Because that allows them to sit back and think they can wait. It’s very important to me that we accept where we are.

If things get better, or things are suddenly fixed, good luck to us. But is that what’s going to happen? I don’t think so. 

I think of my kids, and at the moment I’m making a mistake as well. I’m allowing them to sit down on their socials and iPads all day – but what’s the end game? What sort of communication am I going to have with them? How am I communicating with them about what’s happening today, and how that’s going to affect their lives in the future? How should I be guiding them? 
 
Is it easy? No way. Do I have the answer? No. Does anyone out there have it? I don’t think so. But what we have to do is keep improving ourselves. And that’s what we’ve done well as human beings from day dot. We’ve always evolved and been able to manage. We’ve always been able to change, and this is what we have to do again. 

What I want to say is, if you don’t have a new year’s resolution – how about we make one as a team, starting today? How about we make a resolution together to accept the status quo, GET ON WITH OUR LIVES and accept that things aren’t just going to suddenly improve. 

Believe me when I say this – and I know I’ve made my point a few times already – this is going nowhere, and we have to treat it that way. The quicker we can do that and are able to accept life as it is, the quicker we’ll heal. Hopefully, we’ll be able to start understanding what this new normal life is.