When the ego weeps for what it has lost, the spirit rejoices for what it has found.*
Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash
Hope is a word that seems to have fled people’s tongues in recent days. Fear has engulfed us so deeply, that a few days of this lockdown has come to feel like years. Nerves are a wreck.
Most people who know me, know I am the eternal optimist. This has served me well both personally and professionally – through life situations. However, this time around my optimism has been tested more than ever before.
The closure of schools, closure of entertainment, eating and drinking places, social distancing standards, and great uncertainty as to what exactly is this COVID-19 and how to deal with it – is taking its toll. in the midst of the plight of daily wage workers, the impact on the hotel and travel industry (I have many friends working here), children losing out on important moments of school life, a new normal is being written, with its actors having no say in its rules. The uncertainty of the next few months and the possible long-term impact of this casts a long dark shadow on one and all.
As I was meditating on these emotions, this morning, I was inspired by what Maya Angelou once said, ‘Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Invite one to stay.’
It is up to us to make the choice. It truly is. Hope or fear: What will you choose in these uncertain times?
I have had the fortune of living a life full of choices and wonder. One where I have hoped for the best and prepared for the worst. For we know life is shocking. And unpredictable. A challenge. For no matter how bad it is, it could be worse and no matter how good it is, it could be better.
Throughout my life, I have been blessed to be surrounded by people who love and believe in me. I have met some amazing human beings that history and the daily moments of reckoning have produced. Men and women of such tremendous moral courage that they often left me standing in awe of their raw power and their sheer force of virtue and relentless determination to overcome. While my journey has been one spent in the pursuit of possibilities, the path along the way has never been more than a breath or two away from darkness and despair. Thankfully, in even my darkest moments, loving, courageous souls have repeatedly stepped onto my path in those moments and walked beside me until I found the courage to stand and press forward in the fight for what is right and true.
And that I believe, is the power of hope. The universe will rise to give you all the support you need to take that next step and then the next and the next. I am reminded of a talk by Eckhart Tolle, where he refers to a famous parable from the Bible – The House on the Rock. As you explore this parable deep, you realise the house that Jesus is referring to here is ‘Me’. And if that ‘Me’ remains only a conceptual ‘me’, then it is like the man who built his house on the sand, the rains came, blew and beat the house to a crumble. So will the virus. And if not the virus, the fear of it will.
What would it take to dig deep beyond the conceptual ‘me’ and build that house on the rock? Adversity is a wonderful opportunity because it forces you to go deeper because life becomes almost unbearable when you live in fear. This offers you an opportunity to go deeper and discover your essence, an essence that frees you that expands you.
‘Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Invite one to stay.’ Maya Angelou
We as a global community, are currently in a defining moment for our generation and the generations to come. How we choose to act now will determine the legacy of this moment. While the horizon seems dark and confusing, and fear for the safety and well-being of those we love keeps us awake at night, hope shows us a path forward, but only if we can look, with a new pair of eyes. Like the wise man in the parable, if we are willing to tap into the deep-seated kindness in us, we will rise united and strengthened and nothing will tear us apart. We may finally be able to see past our differences and discover what it really means to be human. And that is a wonderful opportunity.
So let’s recognize this moment, and not let it slip through our fingers and be lost to stories of what could have been and should have been.
Hope bound with love is a powerful force that can unleash unimaginable possibilities, in the face of unimaginable odds. But it will take each of us…not just some of us… to unleash that on the world.
We must choose to hope. We must choose love. And our spirits will rejoice for what we have found.
*from a Sufi proverb.
