Dr Ada B. Bonina
Nurse educator
One, two, three months or more have passed and this Corona virus seems to be stuck like a boulder in our path. Unmoving, like a wall but at the same time gobbling up innocents, infecting more and more and causing untold misery to everyone
Can’t shake it off
None of us have ever experienced such a stage in our lives where we have to watch every move we make and also every move others make. The fear of infection, worse, the fear of death itself is looming above us and we just can’t seem to shake it off!
Worst-ever experience
As far as I am concerned, this has been the worst-ever experience of my life. I am sure this must be the same opinion many would be having.
The virus and the following lockdown, the social distancing, the stay-at-home and the cleaning, scrubbing, the hand washing, all of it has taken its toll on many.
Can’t accept this uninvited guest
But, then, like all experiences, good or bad, we will slowly accept it. We haven’t accepted the Corona virus into our lives as yet, because it is an uninvited guest – and such a deadly one at that. I know that we will be slowly forced to bear with it; live with it and maybe in the future, even accept it as part of our lives.
Won’t miracles happen?
But as all people who have a vein of hope in them, we will always pray for a way out – a vaccine, or a sudden demise of the virus itself. Why can’t we think in that direction too? Why should we always press the panic button? Why should we always think only the worst would happen to us? Can’t the good happen? Won’t miracles happen?
We are miracles. So we can do miracles too.
World needs bit of cheering up
I don’t want to slide down into despair and a feeling that everything will sink in this morass of pain, suffering and destruction that this virus is wreaking in its unmitigated path.
Even when I do, I try to pull out of it and try to cheer myself up and I think the world also need a bit of cheering up too.
Survival of the fittest?
I will look at it this way: it is true that one of the biggest crises has happened in our lives. It is not waiting to happen – it is here, it has happened. We are in the midst of it. So it also means that it is a big test for us – a kind of psychological experiment, which has pitted us against great odds. What do we do? Turn tail and run or stay put and fight?
Maybe it is also a fight for survival of the fittest – not just physically, but mentally, spiritually, maybe this is why great minds have always advocated simple living, pure thinking and action that benefit one and all. And in a convoluted way, that is what this harsh teacher called Corona is teaching us – to be and live simply; to engage in pure thinking and have a charitable bent of mind, full of love and care for everyone, especially those in need.
Let us toughen up
And we also need to toughen up. For, gone are the days that we had never really bothered to consider when we had it – those days of not many months ago when the world was starkly different; where there was no restrictions or lockdowns or social distancing; stay-at-homes of fear of infection or death.
Probity will dictate our move
Our future has changed course in a matter of months and we are now in the era of the new normal. While we may be able adapt to the fact that we need to be more conscious on personal hygiene; create a culture of social distancing and working from home, what might be difficult is to face the fact that many of us are going to be jobless. That is a sad and disturbing factor. The poor are going to be poorer and the ones who never had anything will be forced to understand that their wait for something good to happen is going to take more than a while!
We will be living examples
Joblessness, economic crises will not just be words in the newspapers or in the mouths of newsreaders on TV channels. We will be living examples of it and that is what I dread. Every step that we take will be heavy, will be weighed and we will no longer be stomping down the merry land of mindless nonchalance, without a care in the world. A sense of probity soaked in mindfulness will dictate every move of ours.
God has a plan for us
And despite the current bumps in our path, let us move on and move ahead. And why not? The fact that we are alive and ready for tomorrow itself proves that we are given a second chance. God is giving us a second chance. He always has a plan for us and so let us not grumble; let us not argue; let us not panic or feel that we have been sidelined or are being punished. Let us just understand that we have been given a second chance and we should grab it with both hands!
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