'You could be the reason someone else is still alive today' is the pandemic message we all need to hear

‘You could be the reason someone else is still alive today’ is the pandemic message we all need to hear

Everyone experiencing pandemic fatigue needs to read this viral post.

I’ve hit the pandemic wall.

I am sad, exhausted, cranky, bored and just over it.

My family has been incredibly careful through this pandemic. We haven’t seen our kids’ grandparents in eight months. Our only outings are to outdoor places. We wear our masks religiously.

And I’ll be honest—I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to rip my mask off and hug my friends and eat at a restaurant… badly. Especially on the days when my Instagram feed is full of people, well, doing all of those things.

I don’t think I’m alone in this. We are all just so over this. Especially when it feels like it’s been for naught. It’s hard not to get discouraged when we see reports of sky-rocketing cases across the country . And it’s easy to feel like all of our sacrifice has been for nothing.

It’s easy to feel that way… but it’s wrong. Our sacrifice has not been for nothing —our sacrifice has been for everything .

A post went viral last week for reminding us just how important our shared sacrifice has been.

Danielle Beaulieu wrote:

“I don’t know who needs to hear this but your choice to give up the last 7 months of your regular life being careful and socially distancing could very well be the reason someone else is still alive today and it will always have been worth it. Please don’t give up caring just because everyone else is, cases are rising again.”

And it was just the reminder we needed.

Our COVID numbers are nowhere close to what they should be. And for everyone that has felt its impact through personal illnesses and deaths, I am so deeply sorry—and angry.

It’s also important to reflect on the power of what we have done—every life that has been saved by the efforts of diligent members of our community who have put the collective good above self, even when it was uncomfortable, sad and boring to do so.

Every time you wore a mask, it worked.

Every time you stayed home, it worked.

Every time you declined the invitation, wiped down the surface, stayed distant it worked.

Now is not the time to get discouraged—now is the time to be proud… and to keep going.

On the days when you feel unimportant—like your contribution doesn’t matter, think of the person whose grandmother is still alive because of a choice that you made. Think about the ICU bed that remains vacant, and ready to care for someone who needs it. Think about the people who don’t have the option to stay home today.

Think about them, and be proud. Keep going.

The little things are anything but little. Keep going.

And when this is all over, you will tell the story of how you kept going. Even when you didn’t want to, even when it felt impossible. You just kept going. And you changed the world.