I keep thinking of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book, Love in the Time of Cholera.
There have been other times, in history, when illnesses have disrupted societies and people’s lives. Even as devastating and chaotic as those times have been, they ended. Babies were born, children grew up and societies advanced. Medical breakthroughs happened and going forward, everyone was better protected.
It’s been a tough 2 weeks. My team and I have been taking care of clients’ travel that was and is impacted. When the president gave his speech last Wednesday, it took the entire travel industry by surprise. Airlines did not know what to do. We had 5 clients in Europe at that time, all are home safe and sound. It’s truly amazing how the airlines are adapting to constantly changing and ever new travel bans.
It’s terrible that there is a cloud over everyone’s plans. Whether it is travel, gatherings of friends and families for special occasions, March Madness, Broadway shows, conventions, parades, any gathering of more than 10 people.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, we are required to remain at home, except to go out for essential needs till April 7th. I think some people misunderstood and thought it was April 7, 2021. The amount of toilet paper bought could last till 2022! People panicked and cleaned out the supermarkets by noon the day of the announcement. Fear and panic do not serve anyone in a crisis situation, be it a fire, lost in the woods, an earthquake or corona virus.
We didn’t test 8 weeks ago; we didn’t take the proper preparedness when we should have. So here we are. What can we do?
Victor Frankl wrote in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning “Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.” (Thank you Harriet for bringing this up)
How many of us have felt our lives were moving too fast? Feeling disconnected from our loved ones? Over programmed/committed in our daily lives. Hobbies, projects, books we didn’t have time to enjoy. Now the pause button has been pressed, big time.
Take advantage. Enjoy your kids, connect with your partner, call relatives and friends (yes call, don’t text). Nurture those relationships. Make plans for all the wonderful things you will do together when you are free to move around again. You have airline vouchers and future travel credits stored up. Think of it as your all-expense paid vacation, waiting for you when this is done. We all got a mini sabbatical. Use it wisely.
Here is a reflection from Francesca Morelli an Italian psychologist.
Hope is always a better emotion than despair.
This is my ray of hope to share with you. It’s possible the corona virus may react like other influenzas and could calm down when the weather gets warmer. Every doctor I have heard speak, says that is a possibility. They don’t know yet, if Coronavirus will react like other viruses to warm weather. We will have to wait till the end of Flu Season to see.
My reason for this hope is this. When you look at the World Health Organization’s Situation Reports, the countries with warm weather, have low infection rates. Even India, with billions of people, in close proximity, with huge amounts of international travel, has 142 cases. Here's a link to the John Hopkins site with an interactive map. Play around with it yourself and see the differences.
When I lived in Puerto Rico, we didn’t have the flu except during Christmas break, when the northerners brought it down with them. It didn’t last. My friend lived in Hawaii for 10 years and only remembers the flu once. Maybe these warm weather countries are the canary in the coal mine. And the canary is alive!!!
I’m hoping we get a handle on this virus; we dampen the curve and get back to normal life, as soon as possible.
In the meantime, take care, wash your hands, stay healthy and hang in there!
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