We usually associate ‘positive’ with good and ‘negative’ with bad. That is unless we are talking about medical testing to detect illness.
As COVID-19 sweeps throughout the world, testing positive for the disease is a harrowing thought for anyone. The scenes we are faced with daily from our newsfeeds present a grim picture of what it’s like to get a bad dose of this virus.
Yet, many people play down the threat, firmly convinced that it’s just another strain of the flu and that the fear and anxiety being stoked are more serious than the effects of the virus itself. So, they go about their lives as normally as possible, ducking into a park for a stroll with likeminded friends, gathering surreptitiously in each other’s homes and scoffing at the idea of wearing a mask while out shopping.
This does not necessarily mean that these are bad people. But in their effort to remain social, they are being dangerously anti-social.
It’s ironic that back in B.C. (Before Corona) while we were quite okay with passing other human beings by on the street and totally ignoring them as we remained glued to our cellphones, we now struggle when we are told to implement ‘social distancing’. We never wanted to be with each other more!
Many people are alone, isolated – even quarantined – in their homes and although most of us in the developed world have constant access to social media, suddenly that’s not enough for us. We’re lonely. Deprived of physical contact with other people, we crave it!
Who’d have thought that would happen?
Those who are suffering from the virus – or have experienced it and have recovered – warn that this is not to be taken lightly. COVID-19 is a potentially deadly disease, affecting old and young. Even if an individual isn’t suffering directly, they may know someone who is sick with the virus and they can only stand by and pray for a return to health.
Which is why it might be a good idea for all of us to assume that we are positive.
That we all have it.
That we are in this together and that how we come out of it will depend on how we behave as we go through it.
When we consider ourselves infected, we will be far more likely to ditch the negative, rally around the cause and do the right thing.
And when we do that ‘positive’ will be something to look forward to again.