

No one could have
foreseen the dramatic way in
which the challenges of the year
2020 would alter people’s lives
around the world. The COVID-19
pandemic has introduced new
complications to people’s lives
everywhere, but among those
battered most by its economic
impact were those living in
emerging economies where
prosperity was already
struggling to take hold.
Global progress against
poverty during the past several
decades has been fragile, if not
misleading.
The aftermath of the pandemic
has pushed hundreds of millions
into poverty, with some
estimates suggesting as many as
half a billion people could fall
below the poverty line.
We have learned that
wealthy countries are better
able to weather economic storms.
In the US for instance, after
the onset of the pandemic, the
government moved quickly to
mitigate its fallout enacting
stimulus bills.
There is no
greater gift you can
give or receive than to
honor your calling. It
is why you were born and
how you become most
truly alive. Oprah
Winfrey |
We have learned some
critical lessons during the
coronavirus crisis.
It has taught us that we can
bring scientists together from
all sectors in new and creative
collaborative arrangements and
get things done a lot faster
than people might have thought
possible before the pandemic.
We have learned that we
need to be better prepared for
the future. We have learned how
to work through the social
isolation that our patients and
frontline workers in the
hospital and families are
experiencing and finding novel
ways to communicate via the use
of IPods, Face Time, Face Book
Messenger, etc. The use of
telemedicine has greatly
improved our ability to continue
a provider relationship with our
patients.
We have learned how to
embrace environments that are
perpetually changing and to
become adaptable in response to
an ever-changing body of
evidence. I believe that we have
connected differently since the
pandemic; perhaps our priorities
have shifted and we value things
we did not prior to pandemic.
The amount of isolation
that we have as a society has
been difficult to experience. It
has been a culture shock;
however, we have learned that
things like wearing a mask and
social distancing are for the
greater good.
I believe it has also
taught us how quickly we are
capable of adapting to changes.
Within months of the pandemic,
many of us adjusted to living
our lives differently; how we
work, how we educate, how we
interact with others, how we
spend our time, and how we live
our lives.
I have also learned that
the world, people, places, and
activities with which we
interact have become much
The purpose of life is
to live it, to taste
experience to the
utmost, fear or new and
richer experience.-
Eleanor Roosevelt
|
smaller, but we have been much more grateful and appreciative about things
and have become more charitable.
As we reflect more on
the tumultuous sequence of
events throughout year 2020, we
experienced many firsts, from
wearing a mask to learning and
communicating more online. It
has been a learning experience
for many of us all. Resilience
is defined as the ability of
people or things to recover
quickly after something
unpleasant, and this year has
certainly shaped the way many of
us, individuals, families and
communities adapt to the
significant changes. On a
personal level, these are some
key takeaways many of us bring
into our personal experience.
We have also learned of
some people who serve willingly
without expecting recognition,
bless their hearts. However, we
have also learned of some people
who take the pleasure of
announcing the good things they
have acquired, the good food
they eat and the accomplishments
they have made to feel
important. Bit of we think about
it, at
the end of the day, it is not
about what we have or what we
have acquired nor ccomplished,
it is about whom we have lifted
up, whom we have made better; it
is about what we have given
back; that a genuine leader is a
molder of consensus doing the
right and noble things even no
one is watching because
certainly, silent water runs
deep!
By Tim Pedrosa



The purpose
of life is not to be
happy. It is to be
useful, to be
honorable, to be
compassionate, and
to have it make some
difference that you
have lived and lived
well. – Ralph Waldo
Emerson
|
Tim
|