“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy

People say that we endure two certainties in our lifetime. First, we have to pay taxes and second, we all die. Those are facts. I believe at this point that a third must be added. With Covid-19 wreaking havoc throughout the world, the news reports every day that this week will be the worst in regards to deaths due to the virus.

At the same time, some people are writing and sharing that this should be a time of renewal, that we should take this lesson and become better humans. That we should treat each more kindly, as we have been doing since the start of the virus. They are sharing and hoping that during this time we have been able to become more introspective and that this will lead us all to a higher level of thinking and behavior.

But this won’t happen. Unfortunately, the half life of our memories isn’t that long and once things get back to the new “normal”, we will forget all about helping our co-workers and neighbors. We will go about our lives until the next disaster happens and we are called upon by our government or a higher power to help those we love, we know and we don’t know. And then the cycle will repeat itself.

The reason I say this and believe it to be true is throughout history humans have never ever learned from their mistakes.  Whether it comes from a terrorist attack, a virus or a natural disaster, the end game is people want to get back to their lives with as little trouble as possible. Once the shock of the incident wears off and the dead have been buried, we all will crawl back into our holes and tend to our own. And that is the third certainty. We don’t and won’t ever learn from our mistakes.

Do you think I’m wrong? Do you think I’m being too pessimistic? Do you believe that this is the event that is going to actually carry over and force a shift in the way we think and act?

I say no. Convince me otherwise.