There are additional things we can do

Wherever you turn, wherever you look, whatever you read, whatever media you pay attention to, everyone is telling you to stay safe, to protect yourself and others, to wear a mask, to obey the rules, to support lockdowns, to get a vaccine... Health care professionals, politicians and everyone else, all people who still have jobs, are doing their jobs. Indeed, all of this is needed to help overcome this pandemic.

We are all in this together, and only together can we prevail and learn from this. It also means that we should listen to those who perhaps see things that we don't see.

Countless experts, countless health experts, numerous infectious disease authorities have been propagating lockdown messages without stopping. All-day and all night. They've been telling us that for the last ten months. 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 24/7. All the time. That is understandable - we should understand it, even without any direct experience in ICUs.

We can invest in ourselves.

Many of the experts haven't been happy ever since the pandemic started. Not everybody listened and obeyed them. It seems that people who are not experts haven't been cooperating.

At the same time, no matter how strict lockdowns are, it might never be enough. There are also countless government officials with pretty much similar messages. Many people said that all of that forceful messaging made them feel as if they were children again.

Some would say that "We all have a personal nanny again."

And if you include millions of others, “regular” people who are also "experts," and who “bark” and YELL day and night on social media platforms (mainstream and not mainstream), in all media forums, it is becoming...too much.

I've listened to it daily, from early morning to late at night. Like a broken record, always the same, never different: "Lock everything down, save lives." In the meantime, I stopped listening to it. I would rather watch the “Love Nature” channel or something else that doesn’t talk about Covid.

As a responsible human being, I do feel obliged to ask a question: "Are there other solutions to this?"”Is there anything else that can help us?”

For your information, I wear a mask, protect others from myself, and respect all the rules enacted by experts and authorities. I obey the rules. I would never endanger others.

But.

I also use my brain. I think.

There must be more to it. There must be something else that can help us. Something that could help us in the long run.

There is another way, and I believe that we can collectively do this a bit differently. We only need to invest in ourselves, into our health. We have a chance to start doing it now, so if there is another pandemic in the future, we’ll be more resilient.

I still haven't heard officials in this country say: "Build a different lifestyle for yourself." "Walk every day." "Exercise every day." "Sleep enough." "Eat less." "Spend some time in the sun." "Make your immune system stronger." "Go running." "Work on yourself."

I don't hear people talking about these things. Maybe there are some, but nobody can get those messages. Nobody can listen to them because all the mainstream media is stuck with only one message. Or I didn’t hear them.

I hear and see, every day, those "lockdown" messages that blame anyone who dares to offer anything else. When some people say something against lockdowns in online forums or in the media, they are literally mobbed.

Additional opinions not allowed

I believe that all of the experts who are present in the media should also propagate the importance of physical health. When they say that a "complete" lockdown is a must, they should also say that a "bit of self-love" is at least a half must. And yes, this would definitely help the mental health part. And vice versa. Big thanks to those who do that.

As much as it is an individual responsibility to take care of oneself and others by respecting these lockdowns, our (their/experts) responsibility is to talk about the importance of physical exercising and loving oneself. I'd be surprised (with all due respect) if they didn't know what Plato said about a healthy body and a healthy mind. They are the experts, after all.

I also believe that all of us (and them) should be talking about a different commitment, not just about a lockdown commitment. We should commit to our own bodies and our own health.

They (or better to say, all of us) should start talking about investing in “good” things (such as education, family, friendships, relationships, health). And at the same time, advising that all good things need and require time. As an essential part of a healthy body, a healthy immune system needs love and nutritious "food of life" to be robust and strong. We need to invest in it. Perhaps, the vaccines won’t be enough. To be fair to the experts, I am sure that they actually know about good things and commitment. They've already done it by spending 20+ years in school and obviously working in their fields. So they certainly know a thing or two about dedication and focus.

I believe that any person should find 30-45 minutes per day to exercise. To go for a walk. Perhaps to start running one day. There is really no excuse not to do it - there are 1440 minutes in 24 hours. If a person cannot find 30-45 minutes per day to invest in himself/herself, nobody can and will save them from Covid or any other disease.

If we as a species don't act on it, there will be many other, more benign things that will kill us in the future. We'll be too weak and too fragile to survive.