immune to it or the mild symptoms of cough and fever will blow away like the breeze. Beware! This part of the population must not intrude into the privacy of those who are isolated due to their pre-conditions. They should instead work and keep the economy going. Sadly, fear has gotten the better of us. Most countries have shut down everything. Not just their borders, as they fear the intrusion of the virus, countries have also shut down all modes of transportation—airlines, trains, buses and ships. Fear has led to the closure of malls, cinemas, restaurants, and shops. Is it because they will give us the virus? Is it because the young and healthy are dying by the dozens? No! It is because of panic! Fear has created panic and instead of using our intellect to discriminate and choose the right action, we are being controlled by the fearful thoughts of our mind. The mind makes a mountain of a molehill. What it has done is that it has brought down the house to kill the rat!
But such is fear. Because we human beings have so many fears, we prefer to close our economy rather than build immunity from a virus. The fear of dying out of hunger is not as great as the fear of being killed by a virus. The media has projected the fear of death far greater than the fear of hunger and unemployment. We can’t deny the natural tendency of a human mind when captivated by fear—
TAKEAWAYS
WHY DO WE FEAR?
that it will always choose a less dangerous situation over the greater one. For instance, if there was a snake in our balcony and a lizard in our washroom, with us locked in between with no other option and both our enemies trying to enter our room, where would we prefer to go and lock ourselves safely? Chances are, assuming the snake as poisonous, we may lock ourselves in our washroom where there is a lizard. People are willing to risk the consequences of an economic crisis rather than dying of the virus. When people actually become desperate without the basic essentials, they will probably realize the truth of their fear. Unfortunately, by then it will be too late because the fear of the virus would have already destroyed the economy beyond what we can imagine.
Why does this happen? It is because the mind creates stress, worry, and anxiety. By producing over 50,000 thoughts a minute, it bombards our imagination with fear and terror. The fear of death has forced us to withdraw like a little tortoise in its shell. Instead of facing the virus with courage and intelligence, protecting those who are more prone to be affected, fear has made us shut down the world. Our instinct for survival, the greatest human instinct has been overtaken by the greatest negative emotion – Fear.