Coronavirus. COVID-19. The scourge of our daily lives in the early days of 2020. The fearmongering has ratcheted up to astounding levels. We are afraid. We are isolating. We are hoarding. We are becoming…more hateful and distrustful (if that’s even possible), of everyone and everything. How easily manipulated we are.
This disease is affecting everyone – some mentally, some physically, some both. It does not discriminate. It is not partisan. It does not care about sex, skin color, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. It is an equal opportunity disease. With the exception that it does seems to favor the Baby Boomers. Heavy sigh…
Knowing that, what we should also know is this: we’re all in this together. As countries, as states, as people. No one – at least, no one we know of – is immune. Like the flu, or any other insidious disease that ravages humanity on occasion, it visits, it infects, it diminishes. At least for a time. We heal and move on.
So, our inability to be concerned about others is, well, inhumane. Your neighbor needs toilet paper as much as the next person, so why are so many apparently hoarding? Or disinfectant wipes? Disinfectant spray? Bleach? Bananas? Really? Because…well, because why? The end of the world is nigh?
I know I’m not the first to tell you this, but this is not the end of the world. This is a blip on the radar screen. We’ve created a monster that doesn’t exist. The bubonic plague (Black Death), in the mid-1300s, was estimated to have killed 75 – 200 million people, or between 30 – 60% of the population of Eurasia at the time. The Spanish flu, in 1918, was estimated to have infected 500 million people, killing anywhere from 17 – 50 million (or more). The world, as you can see, is still here.
Take precautions. Be vigilant. Especially if you’re older or more susceptible to illness. But relax. It’s a thing. It will pass. And no amount of worry or fear will change your odds of getting the disease and perhaps sharing it with others. Only living a healthy life-style, with an optimistic attitude, might increase your odds of dodging this bullet. It’s worth a shot.
Meanwhile, I’ll take my corona with a slice of lime and a bit of sunshine…
Namaste 🙏
~jwb~