How to Survive in a Post Pandemic World
Although we’ve all been able to take advantage of our cooking skills, and the joy we get from spending quality time in our kitchens, our lives will never be the same again. Period. Covid-19 has affected all of us one way or another, some of us more so than others. Almost overnight we shifted from the modern age and into an age of the “new norm.” Many of us were completely thrown off-kilter and had a far more difficult time readjusting to our new lives. I want to talk to you about how to survive in a post-pandemic world.
If only we had the hindsight ahead of time to prepare ourselves for the various events that were about to transpire. What we can do is look forward and try to prepare ourselves for whatever new and different situations may come our way. These are traits and skills that you and your family will need in order to survive in a post-pandemic world. In case you missed this post, 30 Items You Need To Survive A Pandemic
We’ve Slowed Way Down
As difficult as this may be to believe, the pandemic that we’ve been experiencing for most of 2020 has brought a few major improvements to our lives. For starters, it’s forced us as Americans to slow down. Way down. And that, my friend, has been a huge Godsend in disguise.
Understanding the Shift
Most of us have been going full-out, breakneck speed for so long; multi-tasking and stressing out about so many things, we didn’t realize that we were literally killing and aging ourselves with chronic stress. After we got home from work, we also had a difficult time shifting our attention to our family’s needs, let alone, getting a good night’s sleep because our mind wouldn’t stop reeling about the current day’s events.
Don’t Forget to Slow Down
Many of us have now returned to our everyday jobs, but it’s important that we remember to slow down and take care of ourselves. Don’t make excuses or keep yourself from taking a vacation that your family is in desperate need to enjoy together.
Your boss certainly isn’t going to beg you to take time off. Even after you’ve met his or her demands, they will still require more out of you, until you make the choice and call a timeout.
Focusing on What Really Matters
The pandemic also showed us something else that was extremely useful. It helped us refocus and zero in on the things that truly mattered.
- A 9-5 job is certainly nice to have, but it’s not something that is supposed to define who we are.
- For several months, millions of Americans were sent home jobless. This created a new kind of stress for them, but at the same time, it also meant that they were home spending time with their families.
- We were given a rare and unprecedented opportunity to connect and deepen our relationships with family and friends.
- We were able to reconnect and rekindle long-lost relationships, and also find ways of helping to meet the needs of others.
That’s what life is all about. If we’ve lost out on what really matters in life, what’s the point of getting out of bed each morning? Ask yourself, why do I exist? Why am I here? Being able to answer these questions will help you survive a post-pandemic world.
Stop Worrying About What You Can’t Control
Some of us live with false misconceptions that we are in complete control of our own lives. Unfortunately, there will always be moments and unexpected situations in your life that will teach you otherwise.
Worrying about these unknown situations will only wear you down faster, draining you to the point of exhaustion, or towards an unhealthy mental snapping point. Long after you’ve finally broken out of your funk, that problem may still be there. So learn to let go, and stop being anxious about certain things in life that you simply can’t fix on your own.
Prepare for the Rough Road
Huge obstacles and challenges that we face are put there, not to knock us down or immobilize us, but to make us stronger as human beings. Being caught in the middle of a storm that has you completely blindsided can cause your ship to capsize, flipping your world upside down.
Prepare Ahead of Time
The one and only thing that you really can do is to prepare for these types of situations as best you can ahead of time. Very recently many of us have come to the realization of just how fragile our lives really are. Everything that we depend on and rely on can be taken away from us in only a moment. This past pandemic has reminded us of the importance of having food and other supply preparations set aside for moments of crisis.
Stock Those Pantries
For those of you who already had pantries fully-stocked, it still showed you areas that you could improve upon. Covid-19 may have even caused a few warning bells to start going off, pushing you a step closer to becoming a fully-fledged prepper for worse scenarios that could be on the horizon.
Remember that no matter how hard you prepare for something, it will never be perfect. There will always be things that you didn’t account for. But that’s okay. Which brings me to my next point.
Be Flexible and Adapt
Even with all the preparations that you do take, you also need to develop a spirit of flexibility while you are navigating through hard and difficult times. You’ve got to learn to roll with the punches so that you don’t find yourself knocked out. What you’ve been doing all these years may no longer be enough for you to survive. You’ve got to adapt.
Tough situations may require you to go out and look for a new job, learn a new trade, cut back on careless spending, downsize your living space, or sell some things. These are not easy things to do for most of us, but there may come a point that you have no choice but to minimize your life or step out on a limb with your career. You will also want to work on your problem-solving skills.
Other Posts to Check Out
Check out some of my other pandemic posts:
- Parenting in a Pandemic Tips to Get You Through
- Traveling During a Pandemic What You Need
- Back to School the New Normal During a Pandemic
- What We Learned During A Pandemic
Final Word
Throughout this past pandemic, I hope that you were able to use some of these skills as you were facing its many difficult challenges. If not, then I encourage you to put these traits and skills into practice so that you are prepared for whatever else may come our way. How do you think you will survive in a post-pandemic world? It’s possible to survive and thrive after a pandemic, sometimes you just need the right tools. May God bless this world, Linda.
Copyright Images: Kitchen Countertop Deposit photos_46931919_s-2019
I’ve been stocking up on things that were hard to find during the first part of the pandemic. As well as anything I think we’ll need for the next year. Flour, and all the things we need to make our own food. I’m wanting to dehydrate some more veggies and such, too. I buy frozen packages of vegetables when they put them on sale, and dehydrate them. Then I vacuum pack them. I vacuum seal my meat, too. I have also made jerky to store. I vacuum seal them in jars.
Hi Deborah, it feels good to stock up and be prepared. Linda
I do grow a rather large garden. This year hasn’t given me as much as usual due to weather. It rained all spring and was cold. Therefore I had a huge slug infestation. When the rain stopped the cold did not. Then, all of a sudden it got Hot. Some things rallied but considering the fact that things were so late in growing I fear that what is just now putting on, the summer squashes, will not give me much before a very hard freeze. We have already had a freeze where some things were covered but they got tinged. I took all the frost killed leave off the plants and since it got hot again, now the nights are cooling off.
I decided in March when I was going to be home for an extended period that it was time to really get serious with canning. I canned Mozzarella cheese, (still need to get cheddar and jack to can) I bought a huge piece of beef at a reduced price because I was doing the cutting, packaging and FAT TRIMMING. That was great at a $1.00 off a lb. of the single packaged in the cases. 1/4 of it was tender steaks which I froze, the rest was canned as pot roast, I bought chicken legs when they went on sale at 98c pound which I canned Gad, I really love canned chicken legs and the bone broth it leaves me with. I also canned some pork loin. Of course I am eating like a queen from my garden I have been dehydrating, canning and freezing it all. I have a younger couple of people that grocery shop for me. Anything that I am getting low on that is on sale I buy a lot. They pick up my mail on the hiway and bring it to me whenever they come to me back at the end of this long dirt road. I have my medication delivered to me outside the front door of Walmart. I can go to Ace Hardware, a certain grocery store, Super 1 and they will let me sit in my vehicle and bring out what I call and pre-order so I can have the exact change for them.
I have a check-up with my Dr. coming up and I refused to go in person. They finally agreed to do the check-up over computers. Why would I stay home for 6 months and almost 7 months and then go where people who have diseases congregate. The reason I have to do something is because they will not give you new prescriptions unless you go see them.
I say to you all, when it is on sale buy a lot of it. I have been home for 6 months other than going to the dump once a month and going to the Post office whenever there is a package to pick up. The post office brings it out to my vehicle.
One of the gals found a church online that does yard work for people free of charge. She set up for 3 men to come out and deal with some things I am not able to get done. And, the gal and her son also. So, five of them made this place look the way I used to keep it, like a park. So much weed eating and tearing out a fence and pulling out the fence posts in only 1 and 1/2 hours of them working. I have acres and it has been all I can do to take care of this large garden, water it every day and do all the food work and mow 3 of the acres. The rest are forest.
On top of that my house is a wreck because I have a huge 3 tier cage in my living room where I am housing two feral twin brother kittens. They are about 15 weeks old now. One is very tame but the other is not at all trusting. But, I am working on it. If you knew me you would understand that the older I get it seems , the more I find to do. So many projects. I believe it is what is keeping me young and alive. I just keep thinking up more and more. Just keep trucking everyone.
The more you use your body the healthier you will be. I am on oxygen but I refuse to let that stop me. I connected enough hoses to reach my garden and the garden building, ( a shed, barn I just bought and had moved here), connected to the house Oxygen machine. It doesn’t stop me from building things, gardening and well, I mow without oxygen but every so often sit with it and then go again. If you really want to do something why would oxygen stop you. When I had the huge garden for selling at the markets, I connected 100′ of hose to the house. Tell me I can’t do something and I am gone doing it. I put on weight in thru the winter and lose every bit of it when I get very active again. The only problem a doctor might see is the fact that I am using up between 1,600 and 1,700 calories a day and not a person that eats all the things that put weight on you, especially in the summer. I eat huge plates of food 3 times a day and a snack. When winter comes it is hard to get those platefuls to be normal size. LOL
There you have it, If you’ve seen my posts before you know that I am prepared for anything that could happen. When this president 45 took office I started to be prepared for any eventuality that might happen because he is what he is and it scared me. I can do anything using hand tools, cooking, privacy, heating, protection, build (I live in a forest full of trees), 90% of what grows on my land is edible, have a year round small creek and an Artesian well that never stops running and so much more. Are you prepared? Have you, at least started to prepare? Are you saving whatever money you can by only turning on a tv in the night or a light to read by, turning off your electric hot water heater every night or for a few days and back on the next day if you need to shower. Those 50 gallons will be hot for at least, 3 days if you don’t shower or wash clothes or run a dishwasher. So why have it running all the time. I save a good $400. hundred + dollars a year by doing it. It is easier if it is a single person or a couple. Do everything during the daylight hours. Eat, wash clothes and dry on a line will save, shower, do any projects etc. If you are not used to it, get up early because the winter hours are short so you need to use every daylight hour intelligently.
Hmmm, have I bored you with a long letter? Sorry if I have.
Stay strong people. I love you all and I do mean all. Wear your masks and lets get rid of this Covid 19.
Hi Diane, wow, you are a very strong woman even with oxygen tanks! Kudos to you! Keep up the good work, you are an example to all of us. Linda
The pandemic isn’t the problem right now, it is the fires in and around our areas. That is worse than the other. It is hard to breath with the smoke and the info., that family members are in evacuation zones. I have extra food,etc, but now I am getting read with the other needs. This entire year can leave and it is only September! Thank goodness we have higher humidity( went from 9% to 30%) and showers due Monday. I’m not sure the next months will be better, but we can hope. Sorry for such a negative attitude, but others in our area are also feeling this way. Hope you are doing better in Utah than we are in WA.
Hi Cheryl, you are right, the pandemic is not the whole problem right now. Unfortunately, every area in the world is having different issues. I have a neighbor that is a firefighter that left a few days ago to help north of us in Utah. We have families who have been without power for a week in northern Utah because the winds got up to 112 miles an hour. The fires are very worrisome right now. It is terrible what families are having to go through in WA and Oregon. I have readers emailing me about the damage or total loss of property and farm animals. There are no words that can comfort those at this time. I’m so sorry for them and pray daily for all the families and first responders. We need something positive in our lives right now. We will get through this, but this years has been a rough one for all. Linda
Absolutely! We do see a light—-we have only 3 more months in this year, but yet, they may be the hardest. Hopefully we have all learned some hard lessons we can incorporate. Many around here are doing things they have never done before and that is a very good thing. Right now prayer is a very good thing. Take care,
Hi Cheryl, I agree the next three months may be the hardest. The last few months have affected so many people who instantly lost all income. I still have many family members unemployed. I’m not alone, so many families have either made out better than ever with the “stimulus” checks especially if they had many many kids. Then there are the government workers who never missed a paycheck and also got the stimulus checks depending on their level of income. Hospital workers have lost jobs because no “non-essential procedures” were canceled. The hospitals have to be in financial trouble of sorts. But many many people have very little in their unemployment checks, and landlords are hurting because they have mortgages payment to make. The airports, the hotels, the entertainment field has been forever hit with massive losses. I’m seeing suicides in families because of no income. God help us all. Linda
The three states dealing with the flames–Oregon, Cali, and Washington– are in my prayers.
Just another reason to count our blessings.
Hi Jay-Jay, yes, we must count our blessings. We just need something positive very soon, prayers for everyone. Linda
I continue to stock up with lots of non-perishables and cleaning products as I can find them. I will keep doing that as long as money and products are available.
One thing that I have done is gotten a part-time job 2 days a week – all I will be doing is disinfecting at an office building. This will give me a bit of extra $$ to beef up my pantry.
Since I don’t have room for a lot of canning equipment, I did find a small water bath rack that fits my stock pot and I have canned some pints of apples and pears. Wish I had had it when peaches were ripe and fresh. Of course back in peach season, I couldn’t find jars or lids of any sort. I was able to purchase some jars a couple of weeks ago but now they are out of stock most places again! So, when I run out of the jars I have on hand, I will go full out on dehydrating. It has been too hot to dehydrate in my apartment for the last couple of months so I stopped for a while. This fall though I will get more fruit and veggies to dehydrate.
Don’t forget to prep some cash. Who knows what the near future will bring and I want some cash on hand just in case.
Hi Leanne, how fun to get a part-time job. It gives you a little $$$ and gets you out of the house. The bonus, you can pick up a few extras or stash the cash. Way to go, Linda
I am more worried about post-pandemic than I have been this entire pandemic. For the past fee weeks, I’ve been getting $128 in unemployment. I think it’s going to be a while before I can build my business right back up to wear it was pre-corona. 🙁
Hi Jess, I am worried about the income for people right now. It’s crazy how people’s lives were changed just overnight. It’s going to take months for people to recover if not years. I will pray you for your business, Jess! The unemployment checks don’t even cover rent or house payments. Hang in there, my friend, Linda
Hi all,
I’m an independent contractor with local schools. We went down on lock down, March 15. Even though we have returned to school now, my days have been reduced from my expected 3.5 days to one. I try to find odd jobs to do to make up some money losses. My medical issues don’t allow for me to work in most of the jobs available, and my age causes problems too. But thank goodness my house and car are paid for, and I have food, all part of my past preparedness.
My prepping has changed with arrival of Covid-19. I have worked on fixing structure damage and security issues to my home and for hurricane season ( removing trees) and improve my garden experience. What I was not prepared for this crisis was my son’s mental state. I had stored up his meds for depression and things to do at home but that was not enough for him. He doesn’t find joy in the outdoors like me. His release is to be out driving and away from home, and a definite schedule. We have learned a lot during this time but don’t have a full plan for him in next lockdown or next crisis.
And because of my fixing my home, I spent most of my savings now. My back up plan of selling jewelry, was just recently stolen. I’m concerned, cause I’m not able to buy more food items to replace what I’ve used, for long term storage, and I know there is going to be more unrest/trouble ahead for US and world. Thankful, I know God will help me through these tough times. Prayers for everyone else that is going through their own struggles, too!
Hi Midge, life has changed for so many. You planned ahead, you should pat yourself on the back. Your home and car are paid off. The bad things homes and cars always need repairs over the years. But you are still ahead of the game. I feel for your son, and you as a mother, this has been a very trying year. God will help all of us get through this. Hang in there, we have to have hope. Hugs from Utah! Linda
Linda, I don’t have much of a support team, so thanks for compliment and encouragement!
Hi Midge, you are so welcome! Linda