FEAR...the greatest emotion flooding mankind these days. Fear, which has gripped every nation and even the strongest among leaders and frontliners with the unseen enemy we are battling. Fear is real, fear is here...and with fear comes along dread, disease, death, panic, chaos, shortage of supplies, famine and all the negative things associated with it.
As a government employee juggling with the deliverables at work and finding time for my children and grandchildren, I couldn’t help but worry for the entire nation in particular and the world in general. News on the deadly Covid-19 has taken its toll among us as we watch and hear in horror the surging number of infected persons, the dying, the PUIs, the PUMs (now dubbed as Suspect, Probable and Confirmed) and the medical practitioners worldwide who continued to battle this disease. It had even cost lives among health workers. Television networks and social networking sites are flooded with unsightly feeds of the catastrophe we are all experiencing.
Yet, I still see a glimmer of hope in the predicament we are facing. Let us examine ourselves on how we respond to fear. Fear, as we all know is an emotion induced by perceived danger or threat. Our response to fear can bring about physiological and behavioral changes.
Let me share with you my thoughts on fear especially during these times. It has something to do with this acrostic I encountered somewhere. Accordingly, FEAR could mean Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. Which is more like you? I have chosen to embrace the latter as I wake up hopeful each day to more breakthroughs with the current breakdown we are experiencing. I see hope among our health personnel as they bravely face the uncertainties before them. I sense hope as I listen to the President’s passionate call for us to obey quarantine protocols and place our trust in the government. I witnessed hope in the different denominations invoking the intercession of the Holy Mighty One. I smell hope among people trying to figure ways and means of protecting themselves from the deadly virus. I can feel hope in all the plans formulated and shared by educational leaders as they unstoppably explore alternatives on learning delivery. I tremble with hope when I see the beaming, innocent faces of children, the gentle reminder of the elderly, the frantic efforts of essential workers, the mental turmoil it has brought to parents, the sleepless nights of government officials and even the soulful cry of death itself...there is always hope.
Why am I so hopeful? It’s because I have come to terms with my fears. I have seen enough and I’m not easily giving up. Join me as I look at fear straight in the eye. I love FEAR...yes fear itself as I Face Everything And Rise.
Let us do our share in winning this battle. Into the unknown we are ready to explore...to learn...to start anew...It is never too late to give one’s share in annihilating this enemy.
Thank you Lord for allowing FEAR to engulf my whole system. For reminding me that I am not invincible, for allowing me to internalize my thoughts on traffic jams, tipsy partygoers, latest games and gadgets and the endless come what mays... for showing me the way as I fervently pray for all our frontliners.
Friends may we never forget to give our ultimate gratitude to the Almighty Lord for sustaining us in this battle. Let FEAR bring us to a much better version of ourselves. Face Everything And Rise. Indeed, FEAR is the greatest hope of all.