The Positivity We Hate and Society Shuns

Written by Dr. Hamada Alantably

We never imagined that one day we would be disturbed or stricken with panic and fear over being “positive.” That was until the emergence of the coronavirus “COVID-19” and its variants. Since the appearance of this accursed virus, we have been gripped by fear and panic the moment we receive a message or a lab report stating that the result is “positive.” At that moment, you must enter isolation, distancing yourself from everyone, even your closest relatives, becoming an outcast in society. It becomes mandatory for everyone you have interacted with to be isolated as well. What happened? We have spent our whole lives saying “be positive.” I believe this is living proof of the saying, “Nothing remains the same; change is the nature of God’s universe.” Glory be to He who changes things, yet never changes.

These days, we are often overcome with fear and panic when we catch anything we previously considered normal, such as a cold or the flu—things we used to consider natural occurrences during the winter. Even this “normal” is no longer available, and we have begun speaking of the “New Normal.” Everything has changed since this pandemic began. We have become in need of changing our lifestyle, our way of thinking, and how we deal with various matters and situations. In the blink of an eye, everything changes. What we considered natural yesterday has become the “new normal” today, and what we used to advise yesterday—”be positive”—has become something we hate and fear today: a “positive test.”

So, let us reorganize our affairs and think in a completely different way to align with the new reality in the age of COVID-19. It seems that COVID-19 will be with us for some time, and we will catch it at one point or another. The end of life will only come at the time decreed by God Almighty. We must deal with this “new reality” with a completely open mindset toward all possibilities. It is not most important what result we get or what it signifies; what is most important is that we always remain positive in our way of thinking, while ensuring our test results are negative by following preventive measures and dealing intelligently with various situations. Life is highly volatile, and we must keep up with it in terms of the speed of change, moving away from the rigid stereotypes that kill everything: creativity and the ability to think. We must possess the ability to change, break rigid molds, and always think outside the box to evolve in the same way the universe around us changes. Otherwise, a day will come when the wheel of life crushes us, and we disappear—this is also the way of life for those who came before us; everything that remained rigid perished.

Always remember: “Be Positive; Test Negative.”

By Dr. Hamada Alantably