10 Things We’ve All Learned in This Pandemic Year

Today I took a moment to think about all the craziness we've experience this last year thanks to COVID-19. I was thinking about my frame of mind one year ago, when I honestly didn't take "COVID-19" too seriously. When the world shut down, I did what health experts and local leaders told us to do. I stayed home, wore face masks, and did my part to 'flatten the curve'.

I went through moments of panic when the severity of the virus finally sunk in. I got the virus and was blessed with a minor case, although my sense of smell and taste is still not what it used to be. I worried about my parents and high-risk loved ones, and I still wonder what the post-pandemic future will look like.

Of all the things I worried over, experienced, and got frustrated by, here's 10 of the most important lessons learned in the this last pandemic year:

1. People HATE wearing face masks.
2. Many people think they are a political and/or science expert.
3. Grocery pickup is the best thing ever.
4. Zoom allows homebodies to feel like they have a social life.
5. I absolutely do not have what it takes to be a teacher, and I love the ones that do even more.
6. We don't need to go to the movie theater to see a new movie, even if my popcorn isn't as good.
7. We all re-learned the kindergarten concept of singing the ABC's while washing our hands.
8. Television streaming services have saved many of us from insanity.
9. We know without a doubt who the most important people in our lives are.
10. There are way more selfish people on this planet than we ever thought.

So many bad things happened in this last year that it's mind-boggling. You know what, though? We survived!  We may be a bit emotionally scarred and weary, but tomorrow will be a brighter day. Let's be nice to each other and continue moving forward, united.