Fear caused by a coronavirus

Myths and legends have united mankind for centuries: from tales about courageous warriors, cunning monsters and giants, to legends of cities and their beauty, the achievements of nations, how glamorous-looking girls lured travelers, the desire to conquer the stars has brought us to the moon …

We can name and name it, but, agree, fairy tales have inspired humanity to do great things, survive, seek, discover. But just as to inspire, those tales and myths can ruin, crush, intimidate, bring panic, and with it, anger and cruelty.

I’m not saying the coronavirus is a fairy tale, no. But people so convincing are talking about empty shelves, about the fact that we will soon have nothing to eat, the need to fill all the buckets with fuel and all the warehouses with vodka. We run to buy buckwheat because the neighbor said he would buy it and then there would be no more food to eat … have you boiled them already?

We drop our hand on the recommendations to wash that hand, and in one click send our loved ones another scary story about the corona victims, sowing even more the seed of fear.

Fear is contagious like good thoughts. Our brains have been created in such a way – what kind of thoughts we have most, the more often those thoughts are created. If you tend to think that things will go wrong, even after you dream of a unicorn, you will think that this is a sign that you will soon have a corona.

Maintaining good thoughts will help more than bad ones. Believe me, I know how stress affects us: blood pressure rises, we sleep worse and less, we tend to overeat, immunity and body resistance weakens for corona.

And instead of complaining, sharing disease statistics, or asking how you prepared for the crisis, for all of us will have forks, let’s change the tale of the corona: offer a family a good movie, read books we never find the time for, clean windows or rearrange – after all, it is necessary to disinfect the house in the spring – we will have a lot of free time as quarantine will force all us to sit at home anyway.

Let’s enjoy each other’s company, play board games, spend time with our kids in a meaningful way, learn something new from a YouTube video, call loved ones we haven’t talked to in a long time, and don’t talk about illness.

Nowadays, positivity, good thoughts, old jokes, inspirational stories, and wash hands are needed as never. Let’s create a new tale about a disease that has made everyone come home, overestimate the things we have, let’s not let fear do more harm than the virus that brought it. Let’s wash our hands and smile. Everything will pass and after that, we will have to live.

© Fortune, 2020