Everyone understands the frustration of really wanting to take part in an activity or program in their community and not making the final cut of selections due to what now seems like the never-ending restrictions in place due to Covid-19.
Ditto reading that only one parent at a time is allowed to attend a sporting event due to those same restrictions.
And, believe me, I was not a happy camper to have spent no less than six weeks in isolation this past summer while trying to spend some time with my daughter before her surgery.
Nor was I over the moon with happiness over having my own health threatened by having to isolate two weeks in Winnipeg on my way home, given that I had never spent a day anywhere on this Earth where Covid was active before isolating in Winnipeg, especially considering I live alone in Rankin Inlet and could have self-isolated in my own home being no threat to others.
Add to that, there seems to be an ever-growing list of the privileged who are allowed to self-isolate upon their return to Nunavut, rather than self-isolate in the south before returning, and it's quite understandable to find one grinding their teeth over this ungodly virus unleashed upon us in 2020.
I'm no different than everyone else in that I have to slap myself occasionally to remind myself that there is too much at stake for us to drop our guard now after coming this far.
The needs of the many do, indeed, outweigh the needs of the few.
It is also tough not to get angry when you see images of so many people elsewhere in Canada not following the rules while the number of Covid cases in now what, apparently, is officially the second wave of the pandemic continue to rise steadily in so many parts of this country once again.
This is happening even though talk of a third wave is now growing louder.
But, you know, it would be easy to stick our heads in the sand and decide to do absolutely nothing until this damn pandemic is behind us once and for all.
Thankfully, that's not the Kivalliq way.
People in all seven Kivalliq communities have been doing their very best to run continued learning for folks and hold sporting events and other activities to keep our lives as normal as they can possibly be during these most trying of times.
We cannot undervalue the importance of their efforts, just as we cannot undervalue the importance of keeping our noses to the grindstone until we see this through and have our lives return to normal once and for all.
I don't think anyone can put up much of an argument against the thought that if Covid gets into one of our communities, it has the fuel needed to burn its way across the region, then the entire territory, in record time.
And that danger remains as relevant today as the first day we became aware of this insidious virus.
Remember what it was like when almost everyone was in entire lockdown due to this pandemic?
Do we ever want to return to that again? Of course not. Nor do we ever want to run the risk of Covid-19 getting into our territory. That means we have to maintain our vigilance until this thing is behind us once and for all.
It's not pleasant and the frustrations being felt by so many are totally understandable, but it is the path we have to continue to travel on to finally beat this thing.
For now, a big thank you to the folks across our region who are doing all they can to put normal back into our lives, especially among our youth.
It is the Kivalliq way and, together, it is Kivalliq strong.
Food for thought.