One take home message from this COVID experience is that staying healthy means adopting lifestyle behaviours that are sustainable. For example, we certainly cannot self-isolate forever, but we can justify staying home when we know we are sick. We certainly cannot wear a mask in public indefinitely, but we can remember to wear a mask when we don’t feel well or cough and sneeze into our sleeve when the feeling befalls us. We certainly do not want to discard millions of latex gloves into our landfills daily when we know that handwashing (for most!) is equally effective.
But we can social distance – ALWAYS! This means not overcrowding elevators and letting people get OUT first, giving people space in stores and not reaching over their shoulder when we are in a rush, and not crowding into an arena when the game doesn’t start for 45 minutes.
Social distancing is a healthy behaviour that affords huge benefits. It’s right up there with stabilizing blood sugar to prevent diabetes, heart disease and obesity, taking the stairs to your office instead of the elevator, and making a homemade meal instead of getting take-out. Picking up lifestyle behaviours that are not just a temporary challenge but rather are sustainable for life, is the take home message from this latest chapter in our lives.
