''My name is Penny and I am a local councillor for Cheshunt North (Broxbourne). I am also a senior A&E nurse in a local emergency department. This pandemic has brought things home. Frontline workers have kept a brave face, kept the nation going, but deep down are frightened too.
As my colleagues started to get sick and our staffing numbers dropped drastically, our number of attendances rose. Lots of sick patients, some with coronavirus but some who were physically well suffering from overwhelming anxiety. We all completely understood. All we could do was reassure each other, reassure our patients and come home to reassure our families, who were we trying to convince?
Where do you find hope when the world is in panic? When everyone looks at you for answers you do not have?
I, like many others, found peace in mindfulness, in hope and belief that this WILL get better. The mind is everything, what you think, you will become.
Every single person has played a part in helping someone, whether they made a friendly phone call, checked in on a neighbour, or smiled at someone on the street (before masks were essential of course). The nation came to a standstill, people stopped to think, spend time with family and recognise what really matters. This was the most humbling experience, and I was so grateful to be surrounded by so many selfless people.
When you stare death in the face you really learn the value of life and I think that has been the take home message for lots of people. You can’t plan your fate, you can’t anticipate your last days on earth, treat everyone with kindness, appreciate every moment and remember what really mattered to you during this pandemic.
We have all gained resilience; psychological, emotional, physical and community resilience. We will soon be out on the other side, dancing in sunshine, stronger, in many ways, than we were at the start of 2020.''
