To have a positive attitude (2)

I have placed next to the headline the figure (2) because I wrote an article on January 16, 2006 that was posted in Al Rai daily which carried the same headline, namely “To Have a Positive Attitude”. Today I chose the same headline as a reflection of the circumstances and implications that are different from those which prevailed 15 years ago.

Positivity and negativity are two words that may mean sadness or joy. Yet, things have turned upside down nowadays, as whatever used to be positive reflecting joy and optimism has become sorrowful, worrying, which leads to having the door wide-open for imposing lockdowns on the one hand as well as keeping away from people on the other. The outcome is that the word "positive” has a negative connotation when applied to a person undergoing coronavirus test. While when the result is negative, it brings joy implying that the respective person is healthy and free from infection.

Thus, things have changed as is the case with several world affairs which became confused with the significance of the concepts of positivity and negativity. Consequently, the values which people believe in or act in accordance have become inter-correlated and vague. The vision is no longer clear with whatever has a positive and negative connotation.

The fundamental question is: How do we deal or rather view positively the events taking place in the world in light of the exacerbating daily problems at the level of homeland and the global family which is united and is expressing solidarity with the daily suffering with a hope for a better future? Thousands of tests take place in our country and the world at large on daily basis. Heath and security measures are to be resumed as positive results of tests far exceed the negative ones. Likewise, social media abounds with news, reports, with people's painful experiences, when someone passes away, and when someone has positive test results which turn out to be negative days later.

We are asked to positively view events, by adopting two positions, namely comprehension and acceptance.

As for “comprehension”, it refers to situations taking place nowadays which are part of the world events and history. It is not the first time that our world experiences such critical situations. As winter is on our doorsteps, at a time the corona pandemic is still persistent, it is not the first time that the world is gripped by a disease. Humanity has frequently gone through dark days like the ones we are experiencing nowadays. There have been painful stages in the history of humanity but they turned out later to be memories of the past with the terms positive and negative restoring their actual significance.

As for “acceptance”, I was familiarized with people who have faced positive results with positivity, despite being a "journey" whose outcome is not clear. But acceptance--which does not mean despair, submissiveness or carelessness-- is the start of a solution and healing. Acceptance also applies to governmental measures issued in the form of “defence orders”. Though they are painful, yet they serve as a means to curtail the number of infected people and prevent the spread of the virus. Humanity is nowadays in a global war, and scientific research will triumph by finding the curing vaccine. The world has positively received the upcoming news that a number of companies have prepared the appropriate vaccine for Covid-19.

abouna.org@gmail.com