Denial

It’s become obvious that a common human initial reaction to a pandemic is Denial. No one wants to admit that it’s as bad as it seems, and for awhile it’s tempting to float on that cushy cloud of non-confrontation with Reality. For some this phase is extremely fleeting. For others, not so.

Eventually, as the numbers of terribly sick and dying rack up, even the firmest skeptics begin to begrudgingly come around, but often much too slowly to mitigate the damage.

Once we see how truly awful the situation is and let the denial drop away, we are swept up in the traumatic reality that the pandemic is real, there’s no way to actually stop it entirely, and a lot of people are going to die. Even more people than necessary if those who are slower in coming to reality are in positions of power.

For many of us that helps stimulate another phase of human reaction to crises of this magnitude: anger.

We feel helpless, frustrated, under attack, victimized, and sad. This can lead to depression and hopelessness and we don’t want to go there. So we get Angry!😤 Incandescently angry! And it’s easy to point that anger at the recalcitrant deniers. After all, their denial costs lives.

But we need to remember: we too were once stubborn, younger souls without a visceral past life experience of plagues to tap into. And as counter-intuitive as it seems, some much younger souls will be ready to participate in this human drama, because they’ve never done so before.

Yes, it’s horrible to think of all of the people who will be collateral damage. And that’s why it’s so important to personally self-isolate, build your immune system, rest and keep everything in your space, including your own body, meticulously clean. So you don’t become one of those statistics.

But don’t waste your anger on the recalcitrant deniers. We’ve all been there. Let it go. Or as Jesus said it so profoundly, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” They soon will. Sadly, the virus itself will be their teacher.