Flattening The Curve.

This week we take a break from our True north series. We resume next week for the second half. I hope it’s been helpful so far and that things are looking up. Speaking of things looking up, I feel the same way as far as the lockdown on life is concerned. It seems like our curve peaked in absentia and is now flattening. I’m happy it is. Life over the last seven months has been dicey, to say the least. It feels like we have been living on top of the proverbial curve. With the loss of income, illnesses, loss of loved ones, and working from home (more like living at work now) it doesn’t get more intense than that. So, we could easily have peaked without being aware of it.

I know we are not out of the woods yet. Well, at least that’s what Mutahi’s ministry is telling us. We shouldn’t let down our guard. I don’t blame Kenyans for letting loose though. The pressure created by social distancing and staying at home had reached breaking point. Humans are created as social beings yet this pandemic has required that we go against that nature if we are to survive.  Once a window to reconnect opens up we crash through it like it’s a prison break. But let’s do it with our masks on folks.

As we look to get back to a world without limitations on movement and interactions, what does that mean? How will we pick up and from where? Many of us have pivoted into brand new spaces and others are still on the way there. It is like we have been learning how to fly a plane in a simulator. Now our skills are about to be put to the test by flying a real plane in the open sky with all the elements in play. That’s my anxiety right now. Will all the effort I’ve put into pivoting pay off? or will I be pulled back to life as it was before corona? The time of testing is nigh.

There is a strange urgency to finish the projects I began during covid. I feel like I have a few more questions to answer in an exam that’s ending in five minutes. Could it be that what we have started over the last seven months or so is meant to continue way after corona? Somethings will come to an end with corona because they were a survival strategy to get us through the pandemic. Like selling farm produce form our car boots by the road side. My focus is on what we began during the pandemic that will enrich our lives going forward and impact long-term. I choose to see the last seven months as preparation for an exciting future.

At first, we longed for the lockdown to get over. Then we accepted it and decided to make the most of the situation. Now I feel like I need to finish the work I began during the pandemic before resuming normal life. There is a ka pressure to be fully prepared for the opportunities that the new world will present to the new Lucas. Yes, I’m a new guy for sure, at least an updated version of my former self. May we nurture what the pandemic has birthed in us so that going forward we will truly live, not just exist.

Going into a reset world feels somehow like that first date. I’m wondering how she (the world in this case) will respond to me. There is both excitement for the unknown future of possibilities and anxiety wondering if my preparations will match the new opportunities.

Folks we have built momentum so far that is propelling us towards a better place. I choose to believe that most of us have especially after we overcame the initial fear and shock. May we not settle into a new comfort zone but keep striving for the life destined for us. May the only curve that is flattening (and hopefully forever disappearing) be the corona one only. May our individual life’s curves continue to peak. And when that curve starts flattening may we be adequately prepared to start the subsequent curve towards a life of impact and significance. No more playing safe or small especially after we have survived the pandemic of our generation.

I pray that we maintain the momentum to continue with our pivots in the new world. If that happens then the effort we put in during lockdown will not have been in vain. May the only curves that flatten in the future be the curves of past success, fear and worry. And may the curves of possibility and what could be continue to rise and peak constantly. As we continue sanitizing our hands, may we regularly sanitize our brains too. That maintains a fertile environment for new ideas to emerge and enrich humanity.