It is easy to get disheartened by what is going on. The global pandemic continues to wreak havoc on many countries. It has reached home, threatening our way of life.
With the announcement Monday night of an enhanced community quarantine covering the entire Luzon, Filipinos, already reeling from fear and worry, also find themselves adjusting to the drastic situation where only limited services are available and public transportation is nonexistent.
Social distancing, which we hope results in flattening the curve of the virus' spread, has unfortunately highlighted the gaps between rich and poor Filipinos.
For example, a stark reminder of this inequity is an Instagram post by a socialite showing several grocery carts, all full to the brim, and a rather callous caption that said “Very good, my yayas and chef! Need to stock up!” The post was roundly criticized, and rightly so.
But there is one commodity everybody needs to stock up on amid the crisis we now face. That commodity is gratitude.
We are thankful to health workers and volunteers, as well as other frontliners, who brave the risks posed by exposure to COVID-19 so they can continue to be of service to others. Some volunteers stay on despite an order to pull out of duty.
We are thankful that these selfless individuals' efforts are being acknowledged by some sectors of society—some send food, personal protective equipment, other basic needs they can use while on duty.
We appreciate true leaders in government who have the foresight, decisiveness and compassion as they wage battle against the virus on behalf of their constituents.
We laud the scientists who devote their expertise to propose solutions like developing test kits or formulating a vaccine.
We are thankful that utility companies have extended deadlines for payments of bills, as well as employers who make special considerations—despite their own economic losses—for the benefit of their workers.
We are grateful that we know better than believe silly ideas like bananas being able to cure COVID-19 infections, even as we remain able to find humor in our predicament without necessarily trivializing the situation.
Finally we count ourselves lucky that this whole experience is heightening our awareness of the inequities we must help address, and is encouraging us to think independently and fairly, dispensing praise and criticism where they are due, all for the common objective of uplifting the lot of our people.
Stocking up on these positive thoughts will see us through these difficult times, which we hope will end sooner than later.