In the wake of Covid-19, 6 months or a year from now… Assuming everything stabilizes…
What will be our lasting lessons?
I invite any and all thoughts…
What will we have learned?
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I need to learn some new recipes…that’s for sure! I take much pleasure in cooking for the family but don’t get that many chances in the “normal” course of life. Between track practice, music lessons, jam sessions, gigs, not to mention work, we don’t get to have family dinner at home more than a couple nights a week. This is at least an opportunity to dine together every night. Hence, I need some new recipes!
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One big thing I’ll learn is that some things are not near as important as I thought they were and other things are much more important than I presumed.
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As individuals maybe some things…as a species we don’t seem to learn much of value IMO.
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I’m definitely learning that you can slow down and not be on the go as much. I agree with @BanjoBen; many things that seemed like a priority are not really that important. We are also learning we can get by on a lot less.
(On a lighter note, I don’t think my daughter back home from college is not appreciating fiddle and mandolin learning time 
but really she hasn’t complained)
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One thing I’ve definitely learned is how easy it is to get people to panic… I’m glad my home is in Heaven and not on this earth.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 KJV
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Life on this earth is shorter than you think. Enjoy it whilst you can. Keep your loved ones close to you and take nothin for granted.
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I’ll have learned a lot on the banjo with all this time. 
And how much I enjoy playing music with my friends, since NYS is banning all gatherings outside of your family, which means no jams.
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Found this the most helpful thing to read on social media this morning so I thought I’d share (thanks to Lara Bundock!)
~ This is from a teacher in China reflecting on lock down. It’s really nice.
We are just finishing our 7th week of E-Learning, seven weeks of being mainly housebound and seven weeks of uncertainty. We are healthy, we are happy, and we are humbled.
We are allowed to move around freely now with a green QR code that we show when we get our temperature taken. You get your temperature taken everywhere, and it’s just become part of the routine. Most restaurants and shopping centres are now open, and life is coming back to our city.
As we watch the rest of the world begin their time inside; here are some of my reflections on the last seven weeks:
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Accept that you have no control over the situation. Let go of any thoughts of trying to plan too much for the next month or two. Things change so fast. Don’t be angry and annoyed at the system. Anxiety goes down, and you make the best of the situation - whatever that might be for you. Accept that this is what it is and things will get easier.
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Try not to listen to/read/watch too much media. It WILL drive you crazy. There is a thing as too much!
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The sense of community I have felt during this time is incredible. I could choose who I wanted to spend my energy on - who I wanted to call, message and connect with and found the quality of my relationships has improved.
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Appreciate this enforced downtime. When do you ever have time like this? I will miss it when we go back to the fast-paced speed of the ‘real world’.
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Time goes fast. I still haven’t picked up the ukelele I planned to learn, and there are box set TV shows I haven’t watched yet.
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As a teacher, the relationships I have built with my students have only continued to grow. I have loved seeing how independent they are; filming themselves to respond to tasks while also learning essential life skills such as balance, risk-taking and problem-solving, that even we as adults are still learning.
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You learn to appreciate the little things; sunshine through the window, flowers blossoming and being able to enjoy a coffee in a cafe.
To those just beginning this journey, You will get through it. Listen to what you are told, follow the rules and look out for each other. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Xx
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Our pastor live streamed a service Sunday. He said a lesson we can learn from this is that God is still in control and he can use this virus for good. He’s using it to slow us down and get us out of routine so that we will get our focus back on him since we tend to lose sight of him in our normal routine.
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Amen Michael! Right there with ya.
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Thank you Linda @Mandolinda for sharing this story. It gives us all hope that sun will shine again tomorrow.
As I looked out my window today I saw the daffodils bobbing their heads in the morning sunlight. A pair of blue-tits are beginning to build a nest in the new bird box I put up in the fall on the copper beach tree outside my bedroom window. Let the sunshine in 
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THANK YOU ALL FOR THE THOUGHTFUL REPLIES!
My reply is similar to several of those items posted by @BanjoBen, @Stuart.Gamble, @Archie, and @Mandolinda - but with a slightly different slant.
I have already learned that I have taken for granted the simplest blessings I have… food, the frafileness of being in good health, going outside, closeness… and the limits of money’s importance… many more but these most principally.
Conversely, I also feel a sense of a message to get us to realize we are fragile (even helpless, lost) without God. I feel I have received personal message to care for ourselves and each other.
Of course, I see the panic… but I see much more, the positive ways people are seeking to help each other, care (physically and emotionally like the Cabin Fever Contest, as a fine example!) for each other and to see life from a new perspective (overdo, in my case… and I hope others might consider - a real paradigm shift).
I told my wife the other day, I even have a feeling of this being a bad dream… or one of those tragedy movies… Daily Presidential Briefings, State Actions, lack of store supplies and a sense of isolation… all with purpose to inform and protect everyone… and that… I will suddenly awake… (Maybe this is not far from the truth?).
All these things I sense and feel now… but what I hope/pray… once we recover, we will say, “Remember when…” but that we truly remember… a major signpost shaping our lives forever (like the triumph of Man’s 1st Moonwalk, the helplessness of JFK/MLK Assassinations, the sorrow of 9/11, the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, etc…)… etched in our memory these things we took for granted… and appreciate then in a new light - long after this passes (I have faith it will pass).
My lesson: to remember these feelings and embrace appreciation and gratitude for all these things I didn’t see or bother to really notice a month ago… and live differently 6 months from now and forever.
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Focus on today, Yesterday is gone and tomorrow never comes! Deal with the things that are in your control the best you can. Be kind and try to help other’s as often as you can. It will give you peace in your soul and it keeps your mind on the thing’s that really matter most. And above all-Don’t sweat the small stuff
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Ben, you are absolutely right!!! It’s a shame it takes a virus for us to realize it. Let’s hope that when this is over, we don’t soon forget what is important in life.
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I found out I’m elderly…hahahha
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I remembered this older topic today- the last reply was 9 months ago almost to the date- and thought I’d look back at 2020 and recall some of what I’ve learned.
- Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse- 2 Tim 3
- Few things in this life are trustworthy except the Word of God.
- I should play banjo quieter behind other people’s breaks.
- Jesus still saves.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. -Proverbs 3:5-6
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Amen brother
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Fear is a powerful tool. I’ve learned to turn off the TV and read my bible much more. God is fully in control.
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