Our New Reality and What the Future Holds
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has started, a lot has changed for our nation and for the world and not much of it is good. In this hard times it is important to be positive and hopeful, but given what has transpired over the last several weeks, there is not much positive to report or much hope for our present life and situation I can point to.
The reality is grim.
It is not a matter of how it will spread or when it will spread to truly catastrophic numbers because we are there, it has happened, and there is no turning back. We waited too long to get it under control and contained and that is mostly because of a lack of a response from our government, like I mentioned in my last article, but also because many of you did not take this threat seriously and shockingly, some still don’t.
Of course, there are some small positive things that we can focus on and we should, it is important to remain hopeful in difficult times, but we must also be real and acknowledge where we are at and what is to come for us all in the coming days, weeks, and months as we fight through this virus, the lockdown, and all that goes with this entire situation.
The positives we can focus on are that those of us still employed have jobs and an income, that those in recovery have online meetings to attend, that those of us that haven’t contracted this Coronavirus yet are healthy, that we can use this time to work on ourselves and on personal growth, and that we have hope for a life where we can be free from this illness and that we who are blessed have food and a home.
There are positives, but I also believe it is important to acknowledge the fatality and horror of this virus and not be ignorant to reality. The reality is that this illness is taking lives and is unpredictable at best. At first they said that it was only getting the elderly and those with previous health issues sick, but now that is changing and younger and healthy people are getting very sick and even dying.
Very unpredictable.
We are in a war-time situation. Hospitals in New York are looking more like they would be a hospital in war-ravaged regions of the globe. Patients dying in the hallways, doctors getting sick, stretchers lined up for a block, and sickness and death everywhere. The hospitals are overwhelmed to the point where they do not have enough doctors or hospital beds, communities without enough resources to care for people and their healthcare and nutritional needs.
It is only just starting too and is sure to get worse in the coming days and weeks, and even hours.
So, what does our future hold and is there even hope?
These are important questions that we must ask because the future of the world and our lives seems so uncertain right now. People want some hope, but I believe that they also want the truth. The truth is a scary thing even during normal times and even more so in these scary and catastrophic times that we all are facing, but it still must be told.
The future appears grim, but there are some glimmers of hope coming out in recent days, although, they are countered by more grim and devastating news that comes out as well.
The worst part in all of this is that we are just starting, the numbers will rise and the only way we can stop it or slow it down is by changing our very own behaviors. We hold the key to effect the outcome of this virus, and while we cannot change the past, we can choose to act differently from here on out and have a profound impact on the rate of infections and thus the rate of deaths from this virus.
Yes, it is unfortunate that we find ourselves in a situation where our lives and the make-up of our world is vastly different than anything we ever thought was even possible, but this is where we are at, and this is where we will be for some time to come. The question is now, what must we do to reduce the spread and shorten the duration of the chaos and the lockdowns and other restrictions.
We all miss going to the gym (I for sure do), and the movies, out to eat, to the ballgame, and having close and intimate relationships with others, we all miss normal life. However, we cannot change what has already taken place, we can only change our actions in the future that will determine the course of this virus in our world.
This will not end next week or even next month and perhaps not even next year. This is real and this will be with us for awhile and this is a reality that we must accept. In 12-step programs they take about acceptance being the answer to all of our problems and until we accept something, we cannot move forward and this relates to this. Until we accept our reality in regards to the deadly virus of COVID-19 and the facts of this virus, then we will not be able to find peace and move on.
The misinformation that only the old or sick die is not helping us, not one bit is it helping us. Anyone has the ability to get very sick and die from this virus and that is the message that we must get across to others so that they make better choices and practice social distancing and take precautions to keep themselves and their communities safe. We must stay at home as much as we can and wash our hands and take other measures.
This is NO joke. People are dying.
In closing, I encourage everyone to take this virus as a life or death matter as it for sure is. I encourage the president to give people the facts, for people to do their part to slow the spread, and for all of us to be there for one another and unite as one people. The facts are that this virus has now altered the course of history and killed more Americans than the terrorist attacks on 9/11 killed and changed who we are and how we live our lives and will continue to do that until we find a cure or change our actions.
We hold the key to changing this. We can help people and be of service to them by taking this seriously and staying home. If you think that this cannot happen to you then you are mistaken and if you think you are fine because you do not have any symptoms, you are wrong again. We are at war my friends and it is a global war with an invisible enemy and the only weapon we have is education and common sense.
Please be educated and use that common sense, you just may save a life!
