This virus we have allowed to spread is internal.

We have allowed unimportant things to become our main focus.

Is it really the end of the world if your food is delivered 10 minutes late? That you didn't find a parking spot close to the entrance of your workplace, and you have to walk 5 minutes? That there is a line at the cash or that they didn't have your shade of foundation at Sephora? 

We have allowed things like going to the grocery store, having a drink at a bar, going to work or opening our front door become a habit. We expect it to always be accessible to us. When in fact, it is a privilege. The real virus is the one we let infect us on a daily basis. It's the only virus we can control, and the only one we are already equipped with a vaccine for.

As soon as our routines change, we start to realize the things we didn't do enough of. We didn't say "thank you" when it was imperative, we didn't hug our friends long enough, we didn't always say "I love you" at every chance we got, and we didn't realize how important items like hand soap are. We take things for granted, we are human, and we are imperfect. However, we are intelligent enough to take our lessons and learn from them.

The vaccine is your perspective on your life. It can save you. It can make sure you are constantly evolving and growing. Think about the way you can improve the way you treat others, the way you treat yourself, the way you feed your soul and fulfill the burning desire in your heart to make this time on earth worth something. Essentially the goal is to make sure than when your time does come, your spirit is alive through your life's accomplishments. Always keep working towards a life that has you looking back, at any moment, thinking, "I let myself dream, I gave it my all, and above all, I loved". 

Last year we experienced an ice storm in Canada and some people didn't have power for weeks. For those who experienced it firsthand; I hope you are now grateful for electricity and how it makes everything we do possible. Next time your phone dies, just put it down, and go be with your family or read a book. Don't sigh like it's the end of the world, because I can assure you it is not. We now have a crisis on our hands, pun intended, and we have no idea how long it will last. We have suddenly been robbed of all we know to be normal. We cannot see our friends or our loved ones; in most cases, that means our parents. We cannot go to the movies, shopping for summer clothes, go for a coffee or even go to work for crying out loud.

I hope that you take the time to do what you love to do. Whatever that may be. Make lists of things to do that you usually don't have time for and fill yourself up with things that will make you stronger and better until it overflows.

You have control of the decisions you make; stay home and vaccinate. 

Those who persevere, flatten the curve, and those who find light even in darkness, never take the sun for granted. 
 

Gabrielle Suryn 

Gabrielle Suryn is an endless traveller, a photographer, a writer of a book in writing, an animal lover and activist, Business and Management professional and a future animal shelter owner. A strong belief in self-reflection and improvement is Gabrielle's motto for life.