The Challenges of Post-Pandemic Living

If you have read some of my other articles, you will notice that the pandemic has been a point that I have touched on frequently. As mentioned in pasts posts, the pandemic happened to coincide with my final semester as a college student, as well as my graduation. It made for an all around interesting time period. A time to reset, regroup, and move forward with renewed focus and energy. However, the pandemic lasted longer than I’d anticipated, and things didn’t quite work out the way I’d expected. In a lot of ways, that turned out to be a good thing. But, as we’re now approaching close to two years since the pandemic officially stopped in 2023, I want to use this article to express some of the challenges of post-pandemic living.

Dealing with Guilt

When things officially closed down in 2020, there really wasn’t much to do. People were sent home from work. Shops and businesses were closed down. Social gatherings were less frequent. It made for a time period where it was easy to let go of a lot of the superficial clutter that can easily consume a person’s life.

As mentioned in prior posts, this made for a positive thing for people who don’t really care about that crap anyway. You didn’t feel bad about not being out partying on a Friday night. You didn’t feel guilty for going for a walk on a Monday afternoon. You didn’t feel like anyone was looking over your shoulder expecting you to do more because “more” wasn’t necessarily available.

As time went on, it seemed like that started to change. By 2022, it seemed as though a large part of my life had turned into a continuous guilt trip. Not having a good enough job. Not working enough hours. Living in an area not deemed optimal for a young adult my age. Regardless of the fact that I was putting in the work entrepreneurially, personally, and physically, it seemed like these things had become things I just couldn’t seem to get away from.

Of course, I didn’t let that affect my own self-view and self-esteem. I was able to acknowledge the challenge of graduating right in the middle of the world being closed, and embrace the positives of my position. Sometimes you have to take a step back so that you can take an even bigger step forward. I am perfectly fine with having stepped out of the rat race so that I could grow as a human being, and I will forever be grateful to the pandemic for allowing me to do that.

Structure

Although this may not have been the case for everybody, for me a positive aspect of the pandemic was that it was a time of structure. Things were clearly defined, and I had a clear understanding of what my purpose was at the time. Things were closed down, and in the meantime I was grinding and putting the work in to hit the ground running when things opened back up. However, as mentioned up top, it took a lot longer than I’d expected. And for a good year or two things were kind of in a blurry state as far as whether or not it was really safe to be “outside” or not. You had some people wearing masks, following protocols, and following strict guidelines, while meanwhile you had others completely back to living a normal and regular life. It became harder to distinguish what the “temperature” was, and what the pathway looked like for things moving forward.

When I was entering my final semesters before graduation in 2020, I never planned on coming back to my hometown the way I did. When the pandemic hit, I was cool with coming home because I needed a breather anyway. It seemed like a good opportunity to regroup so that I could be ready to put the next pieces together. My initial plan was to be moved back out to a bigger city by late 2021, but things didn’t end up working out for various reasons.

It was those next couple of years where it became tougher to recognize what the structure of my life was, and what my purpose was for that time. It seemed like the longer I was away from big city living, the less ready I felt to go back. To go from living in a small retirement community to a big metropolitan area is a big jump. As time went on, it seemed like my energy was getting lower and lower, and my ideas for how to move forward were becoming less and less. By 2023, I was pretty much just living on the fly and taking things one day at a time. After leaving Intuit that January, I really had no idea what I wanted my next job opportunity to look like. The structure that life originally had at the start of the pandemic had lessened, and I was just kind of left to maneuver the best I could.

Things Still Not Quite Feeling Back to Normal

Even though here it is now 2025, I still can’t say that life feels completely and totally normal. It still feels like I’m in pandemic mode. Which is good in a way. If you haven’t picked up on it by now, I don’t mind hard times.

However, I do look forward to the day I can feel like I can actually dig my heels in and start building a real life for myself. It’s been 5 years of working out, reading, writing, and learning, which is great, but one can’t help but want more.

Part of the dangers of small town living is that it can become very easy to become complacent. You move back in with your mother. You pick up a small job to make ends meet. Next thing you know you end up meeting a significant other. And before you know it 30 years has passed by, and you’re still sitting in the same spot, doing the same things, and living in the same area. Due to not wanting this to be the case, it has meant that I’ve had to renounce and sacrifice a lot of things to keep myself on track.

No partying, no girl friend, no getting overly cliqued up with the locals in this area. Anything of that nature could be a potential hazard. In fact, in the 4+ years of being back here, I’ve never even signed an official lease agreement. Everything is set up so that I can leave at any time.

Conclusion

Despite all the challenges listed above, I still continue to keep working each day to help myself move forward and reach a better place. In the meantime, I continue to embrace the path I’m on and find enjoyment in it. I know that I can eventually look forward to living in a nicer city and building more for myself. In the meantime I continue to utilize every resource I can, and make due with what I’ve got.

Maybe you can relate, maybe you don’t. What’s interesting is that for every guy like me there are 15 that have had a completely different experience. The path that I’m on isn’t for everybody, and I get that. But personally, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Thank you for reading! Be well, and I will see you on the next article.