poisonous thoughts. Fear not only paralyzes the body due to global restrictions but also paralyzes the mind and intellect from thinking positively. If we were to replace NEP with PEP, how would we deal with the virus? We would create an understanding based on facts—“It’s just a flu. Its fatality rate is very low. Because the mortality rate is higher in the aged and the sick, especially amongst those with underlying health conditions, we must protect our elderly, those with weakened immune systems. We must be careful of the symptoms that cause an alarm for the infection.”
If we flip over from NEP to PEP, our attitude towards the virus would not be that of panic, but of precaution. Don’t we take precautions while we live, doing the many things we do? Fireworks are dangerous but don’t we celebrate with fireworks? We take precautions! Road accidents kill people but don’t we drive safely wearing our seatbelts and helmets? It doesn’t mean we stop living due to fear. Just because a plane crashes, or a ship goes down like the Titanic, do people stop flying on aeroplanes and stop going on cruises?
Today, the entire world is gripped by NEP. Fear dominates countries around the globe and one following the other, the world has shut down. Isn’t this NEP?
TAKEAWAYS
FLIP OVER FROM NEP TO PEP
There was once a man who lived in solitude in the woods. He was fairly courageous, but one day, on television, he saw that a monstrous beast was prowling the area where he lived. Normally, he would walk to a nearby village to pick up his groceries. Now, he was gripped by panic—he feared that the beast would attack him. A few days later he started hearing sounds that he thought were coming from the beast. He locked himself in his house. He fell sick as his food ran out. Ultimately, he starved to death. Because he was in the grip of fear, he lost the courage to step out. The beast may not have been anywhere close to him, but the fear of the beast locked him in his house. Finally, it was not the beast, but fear that killed him!