The New Normal
by Astha Munot
Grade 7

Growing up in such a typical and safe environment in life, I have never felt what it is like to be in an unsafe and unusual environment. And the next thing I know is, I am stuck at home in a world that is threatening to step out into, and this danger is so unusual to the point that nobody wants to come close to you or even say a word to you without some kind of protection on their face. Moreover, I am not allowed to go to school and see my friends, because it is said to be fatal! This microscopic creature has turned our world upside down. It has become the biggest enemy and threat to humankind.  And now I am told that this is a “New Normal”.  

 How am I supposed to make this a way of living? How am I supposed to take this behavior and act as if it is normal? Well, I don’t have the answers to these questions, but what I do know is that we are not alone. We, individuals, are like the small puzzle pieces of a magnificent picture. So, we shall not feel abandoned in this situation, rather we shall remember we are all in this together!

The whole world is being affected by this crisis, businesses are shutting down, our economies and governments are getting weaker, professionals are losing their jobs, etc. But we are not and will not give up.

 Furthermore, think about all of those global concerns that have shaken the world earlier in history and changed it all in all. For instance, the Spanish Flu of 1918, or the 9/11 of 2001. Thus, through all these crises humanity stayed imperishable, and faced them with a determined face and kept moving forward. So, that is what we should do during these tough times. And process the fact that it is going to be like this for quite some time, and not use this pandemic as an excuse or make it a barrier that is stopping us from thriving.  Instead, make it our strength to move forward and to prosper. 

With that in mind, there are many fun and productive ways we can spend at home to help us recover from the devastating environment around us. We can use this time productively by learning new skills or perfecting old skills, obtaining new hobbies, spending quality time with family, spending some time academically, etc. By contrast, we should not waste all of this precious time that we have been offered unproductively, instead, we should be looking for new ways to better ourselves. Nonetheless, in my opinion, the most significant thing we should be doing at this time is reflecting on ourselves and thinking about how we can become better humans for ourselves and our communities. 

To sum it up, these times can be very challenging, but we can always try to use these times to our advantage, and become stronger people who can fight through these challenges and come out of them valiantly. 

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

·         Michael Jordan