Don’t give in to fear. Trust me, you can let it go.
I have read enough news editorials that are written by people paralyzed with fear of COVID-19 to know that there is a pandemic of fear going on.
Your fearful reaction is not serving you, no matter what you believe reality to be.
People are terrified of sending their child to school. Despite evidence-based decisions by various school systems, the fearful parent reacts to the idea of a virus spreading to the point that locking their family indoors for an indefinite amount of time seems to be the best choice. People are so scared to stand next to another human outdoors, even while wearing a mask. They won’t even allow their dog to sniff other dogs because they are scared the dog will get the virus.
Their fear makes it so that they react in very aggressive ways when someone suggests or acts as if the world isn’t as scary as they believe. And they are very verbal and visible in the media that we consume.
So, I decided I needed to add my voice to the mix so that someone out there can hear: it’s going to be okay. Fear is not your answer.
I am not here to argue about how bad the virus is, whether schools should open, or whether masks are necessary when standing in a park alone. Although, I do have opinions about those issues. I am here to tell you that your fearful reaction is not serving you, no matter what you believe reality to be.
Your fear of the virus is understandable because we have read in the news about how it kills. The virus is a murderer. We have numbers rising every day, published in the media, that we can check. And it brings into full view, unavoidably, that death is real and this life will end someday for us all.
If you focus so much on the possibility that you might die before ‘your time’ because a virus intervened, it is logical that you might panic. But this is not helping you.
Fear and the Immune System
First of all, fear causes stress, and stress lowers the effectiveness of the immune system. With a weakened immune system, you could get sick anyway. As published in the American Psychological Association:
By 2004, Suzanne Segerstrom, PhD, of the University of Kentucky, and Gregory Miller, PhD, of the University of British Columbia, had nearly 300 studies on stress and health to review. Their meta-analysis discerned intriguing patterns. Lab studies that stressed people for a few minutes found a burst of one type of “first responder” activity mixed with other signs of weakening. For stress of any significant duration — from a few days to a few months or years, as happens in real life — all aspects of immunity went downhill. Thus long-term or chronic stress, through too much wear and tear, can ravage the immune system.
This article from the University of Minnesota also says:
Fear weakens our immune system and can cause cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome, and decreased fertility. It can lead to accelerated ageing and even premature death.
You are in charge of the strength of your immunity. Is it not ironic that fear could cause the outcome that you fear? No one can stop your fear but yourself. Relax and stop worrying; it’s doing nothing for your body.
Face Your Fear
Secondly, this pandemic — both the pandemic of fear and the pandemic of the virus — is giving us a unique opportunity as a global group to ask ourselves, why fear death?
If you face it and accept it as a part of this existence, you may feel less fear. If you meditate on it daily and finally come to the conclusion that “Yes, death is normal. Death is expected. Death is part of the circle of life,” then you will be free.
You can still lock yourself in your home and keep your kids home from school, sure. But you will be doing that without the fear that was adding another layer of discomfort. You will live happier.
Stay Peaceful
I challenge you in 2020 to achieve peace, as this is the time when the universe has presented it as a possibility.
No matter if you agree with me that the universe is full of love and you are living in a reality that you are manifesting, or if you disagree with that, you can surely agree with me that fear is not serving anyone. You may feel that you can’t control a microscopic virus and what it will do to your body. But you can control your beliefs and reactions, so why give in to the pandemic of fear? Try cultivating gratitude instead.
