Please share your wise habits for COVID-19

I know you have developed your own wise habits for COVID-19. How did you do it? Other people would like to know.

NOTE: I’ve changed this post to match our new circumstances. You can now share your wise habits for COVID-19 in Comments, so please do.

In a global pandemic, new habits are needed

Right now, we’re being urged to establish new personal habits to protect ourselves and others from COVID-19. For example, we should wash our hands frequently and stop greeting each other with kisses, hugs and handshakes.

These long-standing habits are hard to shift.

For example, here’s a typical scenario from only a week ago. Whenever I met a friend I’d say, “I’m not going to hug you—” and what happened? They would (mostly) laugh and fling their arms around me. If I tried an elbow touch or a pat on the back I’d still get kissed and hugged. And yet within days, most of my friends and relatives have changed their habits.

1. Prompt: someone approaches.
2. Our new habit: we both keep 2 meters apart, and greet each other with a smile or wave.
3. Reward: we can be “together” without guilt, maybe with a little pride.

You have developed your own wise habits for COVID-19

I know that you have adapted in various ways to our dramatically changing circumstances.

Moreover, I know that in the past you have succeeded in either dropping a habit or starting a habit or or changing a habit, when you realised that something had to change. How did you do it? Other people would like to know!

We can change our behaviour at any age

By sharing one of your own wise habits for COVID-19, you are demonstrating that as human beings, we are capable of changing our ways.

That’s something many people don’t understand. They think that they’re an exception to the rule, or they think that only people with terrific strength of character are capable of changing their habits.

However, it’s true and you can prove it. We are not doomed and we’re not stuck in the mud. We can start new habits.

• Yes, we can adapt our behaviour to deal positively with lifestyle changes that come out of the blue.
• We can adopt new habits to cope with an unpredictable new coronavirus on the rampage in the world.

Goals, lifestyle, tips or wise habits—a linguistic and practical comparison

A Wise Habits for the Almost Old survey closed on 23 March 2020

 

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Illustration by Beatrix Potter in “Back Again To Owl Island” (public domain)