Month: July 2020

The famous show business phrase, “The show must go on” is proving to be true amid the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. As I read this in the Sandton Chronicle, it hits a chord, life needs to continue. We are alive and we need to continue living in this world. These are difficult times and it is almost impossible not to be overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. I also read the following on a university site: “We need to keep clear heads and firm resolve to weather this storm. We need to take control and invoke that old adage: Keep calm and carry on. Let us work together for the greater good in this time of need.” I have come across numerous messages of encouragement, some funny ones too, like keep calm and carry on at least 2 meters away from each other… I know the purpose of these messages is to inspire and to uplift us in this time, yet I know everything is also easier said than done.

Nowadays we have more doubts, lockdown doubts, affecting our thoughts and actions as the virus impacts our lives. Thoughts crossing our minds: Did government make the right decisions by enforcing lockdown? As a parent do I send my child to school? Do I choose education over health? Do I continue working or operating my business or do I cut my losses and probably the most daunting one of all, am I making the right decision? The balance is a tricky one and no matter what, you are accountable for whatever decision you take. You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t! This idiom is now more widely uttered, especially as we find ourselves in the midst of emotional, financial, social, spiritual adversity, just to name a few, and having to make decisions forced on us by the pandemic. Often, I feel that I am stuck between a rock and a hard place with these difficult situations having increased tremendously during this time.

When the fatal pandemic surfaced, it brought our entire world to an abrupt holt. We had to adapt our daily lives under the Covid-19 inspired lockdown and social distancing had to be maintained. It changed the way we went about our daily routines and it affected the manner in which households normally operated. I was concerned for my children, my husband, my family and friends and wondered how we were to survive and cope in these unprecedented days.