Lessons from 2022: The outcome of our choices

It finally happened. Two years and nine months after the start of the pandemic, I finally got COVID. This comes as a relief in a strange way. I missed it when it ran through our house last year. When a coworker asked if I ever got it, I felt embarrassed when I told him no. Now, I can include myself in the ranks of my fellow Americans who got visited by COVID.

But since I’m fully vaccinated and double boosted, COVID feels more like a nasty cold so far. I haven’t lost my smell and taste. I haven’t run up a fever. My oxygen levels are normal. I feel congested, tired, and achy. I self-isolate and wear a mask when I’m up and around. (I will probably wear a mask for the rest of cold and flu season.) If I had gotten COVID at the beginning of the pandemic before vaccines were available, and I was still overweight, my outcome would have been much different. Because I listened to medical experts, focused on my health, and got vaccinated when I was able, I avoided the worst consequences of the pandemic.

That is what I learned in 2022: we experience the outcome of our choices.

We had plenty of examples of people who made bad choices and suffered the consequences. If you buy a social media network to stroke your ego and share your bad takes on issues, don’t be surprised when your net worth goes down and people cancel orders for…