Isolation Makes us Not Impatient

Summary

The article discusses the impact of coronavirus-induced isolation on patience and personal projects, suggesting that while the situation may cause anxiety and fear, it also offers an opportunity for self-patience and project completion.

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has confined individuals to their homes, necessitating physical distancing and altering daily routines. This unprecedented situation has led to a mix of emotions, from frustration to fear of the unknown. However, it has also provided a chance to tackle long-standing projects that individuals previously lacked time for. The author posits that this period of isolation fosters patience, as people learn to cope with delayed gratification and the postponement of dreams. The article also touches on the likelihood of prolonged adherence to certain health measures until a vaccine is developed, emphasizing the need to adapt to a 'new normal.' The psychological effects of isolation are acknowledged, with the author suggesting that the prevailing sentiment may be less about impatience and more about anxiety stemming from uncertainty.

Opinions

The author believes that the pandemic has forced a shift in mindset, requiring rapid adaptation to a new way of living.
Isolation is seen not as a cause for impatience but rather as a trigger for anxiety due to the unpredictability of the situation.
There is an expectation that some level of social distancing and health measures will continue for years, or until a vaccine is available.
The article suggests that the enforced solitude can lead to personal growth, as individuals find time for projects and self-reflection that were previously neglected.
The author implies that the situation encourages a deeper appreciation for patience and the need to wait for the right time to pursue certain activities or dreams.

The Coronavirus crisis made you stay at home and isolate yourselves from one another and all the things you want to do in your lives. Some things are on hold and some things can continue, but there is also a new project you finally can do. That project that’s been on your to-do list for years and never thought you will ever find time to do it.

I know, you want to go back to normal as soon as possible.

Not all people agree with the measurements that were taken, but you have to do so, to stop the virus spreading over the world. This is the only way you have to do it. To isolate ourselves.

We have to be 1,5-meter on distance from each other. We can’t touch each other, hug each other, shake hands when we meet, and you can make the list much longer. We don’t know how long we will be in this situation. We had to change our mindset, within 24 hours, to deal with this situation. At this point, you could feel what you feel. And that is totally fine. Just feel it because that is part of the situation. Then you can place it and knows what to do.

Be more patient

Yes, this situation makes us be more patient than we were before. Patience; to hold on in this situation, to not see your friends for a longer time than you actually want to, to be on a distance at all, to not chat with each other when you accidentally meet in the grocery stores and not go to our favorite restaurant to fine dine with your billionaire boyfriend. I believe it is your own human nature itself that says if you will be more impatient during lockdown (or whenever). I believe, personally, that we will teach ourselves how to be more patient in situations like and with things we always wanted to do. Sometimes we have to hold our dreams to chase after it when the lockdown is over.

Long time with measurements

I also believe that we still have to continue some of the measurements for a few years, until there will be a vaccine against the Coronavirus. Otherwise we will get another wave with deaths and infections. That is the last thing we want, to get back to our normal life as much as possible. I think we will live with this ‘new normal’ for a longer time. It is the way we are in right now, and still will be in, in this situation, for a while. We have to get used to being 1,5-meter from your parents, siblings, and friends. That couldn’t be easy, but it is the way it is.

Isolation and being impatient

Isolation at home could make you a little bit dizzy, noxious, and somehow frustrated, and for some people it is the way they used to as they worked from home already. Nothing really changed, only the fact the distance rule and the lockdown are a thing now too. But does this make us being impatient? I think it’s not being impatient, I think it will be the anxiety of not knowing what might happen and for how long. I believe time flies by when you make a list of what you want to do. Isolation doesn’t make us impatient. It makes us being scared. Everybody is involved in this situation and everybody in their own way. We have to find ourselves again in these situations. At least, I do. We don’t know anything about what the virus is going to do with us and the world. It has so many effects on everybody.

Agnes Laurens is a writer. She writes for the local newspaper. Agnes lives in Bunnik, The Netherlands, with her husband and three daughters.

Writing is — aside from playing the violin — one of her passions since childhood. She is on Twitter and Instagram.