Trying Times

 21 days and we'll be fine. Okay 19 more days, we'll defeat the virus. Not so bad. 14 more days?

And so it continued. 

In 2020 we had seen the worst of things. Things nobody could imagine. Straight out of some fiction book. 

The beginning of 2021 brought new hopes with the arrival of vaccines. And we started to have a false sense of victory over the virus, becoming indifferent, not taking any precautions.

Because why not? Been locked up in your house for so long, you feel this desire to go out and be normal again. The precaution fatigue. 

 Explosion.                                                                                                                                               And then our judgments collapsed. What we had thought to be the worst might just have been a trailer. The virus is stronger, mutating every day. Killing thousands every day. Our country is facing a massive health crisis. (The oxygen shortage is just terrifying) 

You look around and there's just suffering, anxiety and despair.

How does then one not lose his mind? 

Remember, you had the same thoughts in 2020 but you survived. You might have lost a loved one, but you are somehow learning to live with that. You might have felt like you're on the very edge, but you are alive today. 

Isn't that a reason to be grateful? I know it's hard to see through the bubble of one's sufferings. But take a moment to think about the suffering of others, you might find a new perspective. Because you aren't alone. You aren't the only one going through this. You aren't the only one suffering. We are in this together. 

(Right time to think about the collective human spirit and empathy, maybe?) 

Don't try to be positive when you know you can't. Don't fake it. 

But please don't let it overpower it. Reach out to someone, to anyone. (Even if a stranger on instagram.) Don't suffer in silence. 

The present is scary. The future looks gloomy. But hold on to that hope. Because this too shall pass.

 In Andheron Se Pare, Iss Shab-e-Gham Se Aage

Ik Nayi Subah Bhi Hai, Sham-e-Alam Se Aage

- Ishrat Qadri

 

It's funny how you can't even see the virus with naked eye, it's so tiny. Yet look how much has it changed our lives, changed the world. 

It is high time to rethink and start taking the virus seriously. Take the necessary precautions. You have to save yourself, at all costs. 

Please stay indoors as much as you can, stay safe and stay strong.