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"The first duty of man is to conquer fear; he must get rid of it, he cannot act till then." (Thomas Carlyle)

I have been accused of not taking the current pandemic seriously enough, I guess because I'm not running around shouting that the sky is falling and stockpiling enough supplies to see me through a nuclear winter. The truth is that I am taking it very seriously but I worry more about those I care about than myself, perhaps foolishly putting too much of my faith in my good health, strong immune system, and adherence to recommended hygienic protocols. I refuse to allow the panic swallowing up much of the known world to confuse me and render me incapable of rational thought. I prefer to listen to the scientists on the front lines to the reporter or politician looking to keep his or her job, and I have absolute faith that we will get through this. This isn't the first time we as humans have had to deal with a pandemic. There have been many over the centuries. Many much scarier than this. The difference is that today we have the knowledge and technology that will allow us to actually do battle with the aggressor rather than wait helplessly while it washes over us without compunction then leaves us in a residual wasteland. I don't just believe that science will prevail, I know it will, and because I am a spiritual person I believe they will be guided in their quest.

Fear is one of those two sided swords that make up the human psyche. It is necessary for warning us of danger and of thereby keeping us safe. But its siblings are panic and hysteria and they are about as useless as tits on a boar, as the old timers used to say. Remember the old movies where the woman (why was it always a woman?) would get so hysterical that she had to be slapped to be brought back to earth? In her hysteria she was of no use to the other characters and could even endanger them in certain situations. There are now, unfortunately, those among us in need of a good slapping. I have been reading of instances where individuals are actually taking their fears out on innocent parties, such as assaulting members of the Asian community just because the virus originated in China. The victim most likely had never been outside the state let alone the country. Yet there are those who need scapegoats on whom to express their fears so they give in to their hysteria and terrorize anyone they can place their misguided blame on. It goes without saying that I find this kind of behavior horrifying to say the least. Oh, and just to be clear, I also don't buy into the belief of some that the virus is actually some kind of biologic weapon of mass destruction developed by China to ensure the eradication of democracy everywhere.

I came across this quote recently that pretty much sums up my attitude toward COVID-19:

"He whom many fear, has himself many to fear." (Publilius Syras)

Hang tough, everyone. It's getting bumpy but we will get through this!