As many of our lives were significantly impacted due to the global health crisis, we learned the limits of our tolerance and impatience.
In self-isolation, with seemingly endless amounts of time contemplating our existence, we learned a lot about our capabilities as well.
We can master new technology when forced to adapt to a new normal by using Zoom. Also, it turns many of us are not that horrible in the kitchen when we're having to save money and make our own meals.
Curious to hear about what the last year and a half has taught us, Redditor thirstylearning asked:
"What’s surprised you the most about the pandemic?"
People touched on behaviors brought on by the pandemic.
Stocking Up
"People buying 10 years worth of toilet paper."
– Lucas2099
Reverting
"How easy it is to return to old habits when there's nothing else to do :'("
– BagleFart
Losing All Good Progress
"Before the pandemic, I quit weed after 8 or 7 years of smoking every day. I was pretty proud of myself for not touching it for about 6 months until the pandemic hit and we had to start working from home."
"I was living alone, so I said 'f'k it, might as well get high...'"
– RAmbler-2224
Excuses We Come Up With
"Or how much more free time doesn't actually mean people would be productive with their time. It was very common to hear 'I would love to do X but I just don't have the time'. Covid showed that it wasn't the lack of time preventing people from doing things."
– RealLameUserName
The following are observations of direct impacts of the pandemic.
Working From Home
"WFH or hybrid work arrangements were always a possibility, my agency is just full of a**holes."
– CatLady1018
"Not to mention how f'king quickly they could have been implemented all along. The sheer amount of workplaces that managed to set up WFH in literally a week or less was truly a sight to behold."
– Islander255
Eerie Silence
"How weirdly quiet it was at first. Living in a city of half a million people it was so insanely quiet."
– DracoImortalus313
"Makes you realize how much noise cars really make in aggregate."
– sharksnack3264
Improved Environment
"In general how clean skies and waters got when we stopped polluting as much. It's a shame we couldn't find a way to make that more permanent."
– meekamunz
People talked about their mental health in the midst of the pandemic.
Our Limitations
"No matter how strong you feel, everyone has a breaking point from stress."
– NicoModafinil
Different Breaking Points For Different People
"How crazy amounts of stress impacts people. I've heard of many people becoming socially anxious, depressed and others gaining a new perspective on life."
"Somehow this whole experience helped me overcome a lot of my issues, seek help, and ultimately I feel like a much stronger person. This sh*t is still absolutely awful though."
– Vladimir_Poontang24
Slammed By Anxiety And Depression
"Man, I thought I was doing ok. I thought I was taking it all in stride and handling it. But the second people started going out in public again and being social again, depression and anxiety hit me like a ton of bricks."
"Staying in lockdown removed any and all frame of reference. I didn't realize I was sinking until I was around people again and suddenly I was not ok."
"EDIT: If you're feeling this way and you don't know what to do, please talk to a therapist. If you're worried about the money talk to them about it. Lots of therapists can and will adjust their price to fit you. It was daunting at first and I didn't want to do it, but it helps. It's not a magic fix that will make you better tomorrow, but for me it felt like I finally stopped sinking."
– LotusFlare
Pushed To The Brink
"I figured out I had a lot of unresolved anger issues that boiled to the surface last year, pushing me to make the first step and seek therapy."
"Yay, Covid I guess?"
– caligaris_cabinet
What surprised me most about the pandemic was how far I was able to go in improving my mental and physical health.
After a period of depression and being sedentary, I forced myself to occupy my time learning how to cook healthier and doing at-home, body-weight-only workouts since gyms were closed.
Both of these were achieved by watching a slew of YouTube videos. Free education, right from my home.
I've never felt more physically and emotionally better. But it took me to almost hit bottom to realize I had to force myself from the doldrums of self-isolation.
Our will is an amazing thing. It can make us pull ourselves up. We just have to want it.
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
