Today’s tip: IT IS FINE; YOU CAN BE BRAVE AND AFRAID!!
A couple of days ago, I had the privilege of breaking bread with several colleagues who had recently defeated the virus. Some of them proudly wore a t-shirt identifying themselves as “COVID-19 Heroes”. All of them shared stories of fear, anxiety, hope, solidarity, courage, determination, and love. Amidst hilarious anecdotes, life-changing learnings, and the rediscovered joy of being together, we celebrated their triumph and remembered their ordeal.
The news of their “positive” tests hit them like a ton of bricks. Fear followed disbelief, and then a thousand questions invaded their brains: Why me? How? When? The movie of their lives showed in their minds, with slow-motion scenes of their parents, spouses, children, family, and friends. Will I make it? Of course, I will! …but, what if I don’t? This cannot be happening to me! Yesterday I was reading about the number of cases, how come today I am one of them?
After a short time, however, fear was interrupted by love. Every single one of them recalls how quickly their thoughts and feelings shifted from self onto their loved ones. A new set of questions came about: Whom am I going to inform? What am I going to say? When? What will I do? How will they react? And the crucial one, the one that led them to victory: how am I going to defeat this virus?
Since the pandemic started, all of us have been living in fear. We are afraid of getting or transmitting the virus. We are fearful of coming back to our offices, of leaving our families, of losing our jobs, of going to the market. We go to bed praying that none of our loved ones comes up ‘positive,’ and if they already are, we pray they defeat the virus soon. This truly is a “fear pandemic.” HOWEVER, fear is only one side of the coin. On the flip side, we have courage, resilience, empathy, solidarity, love. We might be living in fear, but by no means are we -nor will we ever be- afraid of living!
Dear super heroes, let’s celebrate life and all its wonders. We will prevail.
The beautiful balance between courage and fear:
Have a wonderful week. Take care, and stay safe.