It’s as if we are all having flash backs to the 1970s. It would be helpful to re-read M. Scott Peck’s “The Road
Less Traveled” from 1978. It very well could be the antidote to our grown up issues with our temper tantrum inner child. I can hear the echo of The Eagles’ hit song, “Get Over It,” as the remedy to “kick its little ass.”
How IS your inner child doing?
The Road Less Traveled is a timeless book on the benefits of delayed gratification as a means to living a more fulfilling adult life. It may also be the only remedy to living life at all these days.
Has your inner child been catching your attention lately?
Is your inner child running your life much to the chaos that only a two-year-old running the house can bring?
How are you with delayed gratification of anything?
I ask this question given the times we are living in right now. We are in the midst of a worldwide coronavirus pandemic, which has no known cure, is highly contagious, is transferable from person to person 14 to 21 days prior to any symptoms, and is not gone in many parts of the world. Two days ago when this article was first posted, the country with the worst batting record of winning the global pandemic is the United States of America, with over 1,490,022 cases, which is an increase of 18,937. These numbers continue to increase minute by minute. As I update this post 2 days later, currently the confirmed coronavirus cases in the USA total 1,551,680, which is an increase of 23,285 cases over yesterday, and an increase in deaths totaling 93,434, an increase of 1,518.
In Massachusetts, for example, three days ago confirmed COVID-19 cases were 80,497, an increase of 1,165 from the previous day. Today, confirmed cases total 88,970, an increase of 1,045 over yesterday. Deaths from COVID-19 today are 93,434, an increase of 1,518 over yesterday.
I’ve heard so many people say, “Stop telling the confirmed case numbers and the deaths. That is so depressing. Let’s start talking about only positive things. I’m am depressed, you know. I must concentrate on other things.”
As a holistic counselor, I have taught about the power of positive thinking in every session I ever held, for years. But there is a difference between denying reality by focusing on something that does not solve the problem and doing something positive about it to arrive at a solution. You and I cannot arrive at the solution if we do not look at the huge, extremely contagious problem with no known cure. Wishing it would go away will not make it go away. It will make it stay around forever. Saying, “It is not happening,” does not make it not happen.
Many states are in the same boat on the river of “denial.” That used to be a funny joke. Now it is a sad state of reality.
As a nation, we seem to be unable to do the adult discipline of dealing with the problem head on. If only pointing fingers, blaming, ignoring, and spinning tales could get us out of this one. Even though it was three months late in the game, we did manage to begin social distancing, and wearing masks and gloves, at least some of us did that, and some of us only after a penalty of $300 was assessed for those of us who stamped our feet and still said, “No I won’t.”
But that did not stop 315,822 humans from dying. Some will say that number is too high because some people who died in the hospital, who had COVID-19 really died from having heart attacks and respiratory and other failures. Even some of the people that denied that this coronavirus was nothing more than a bad flu and was a hoax also died from COVID-19.
However, the reality is that COVID-19 weakens hearts and lungs, and those heart attacks and deaths from lung issues were most likely from COVID-19. Also, we only know about confirmed cases. Only one percent of the population in the United States has been tested. The reality is that the number of people walking around with COVID-19 is far greater.
What’s a person to do?
We have spent two whole months social distancing, and wearing masks, and some of us wearing gloves too. Some of us are looking at the same numbers and saying, “Enough is enough. We cannot go on like this. The businesses are hurting. People need paychecks.”
The answer in some states is to rush to open up businesses before the curve has really flattened. As long as any state is having increased confirmed cases, the situation is getting worse, not better. Some states have better track records of how they limited this killer virus in the first place.
Common sense is needed at the helm. If your particular state or country determines it is ready to open up to business, consider not allowing your inner child to make decisions for you that could seriously shorten your life, or shorten the lives of those around you. Do check out the statistics for your country, state, county and city or town. Determine for yourself what guidelines you want to live by.
You only get one life. Protect your inner child.
Because You Deserve To Feel Better
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