FAITH AND FEAR BOTH DEMAND YOU BELIEVE IN SOMETHING YOU CANNOT SEE!
Once in a faraway kingdom, a criminal was caught and brought to the king. As the man was found guilty, the king gave him two options to choose for his punishment.
“You can either choose to hang from the rope or walk from the mystery door of furious iron.” King said.
Criminal chose to be hung by a rope and while the rope was near his nose, out of curiosity, he asked the king that what was behind the mystery door of furious iron?
King smiled and said, “I give some options to everyone before punishment and they always choose the rope to die, the fear of what is behind the door and uncertainty of unseen never let them go for it. Behind that door lies the Freedom, he who chooses it is free to walk away.”
The story tells us that fear of the unknown has the power to cripple our minds. The journey of faith often starts with a door of fear. These two terms have always been on the radar but in the current pandemic, the understanding has become relevant more than ever.
Now let’s analyze what we can do about it. We can let fear overwhelm us or we can let faith guide us. The choice is ours. And deep down we know, which one is better! For many people, the outbreak of COVID-19 has caused fear, coupled with stress & anxiety. It is easy to catastrophize the situation and fall into a spiral of negative emotions. If this fear remains unhandled, it can be destructive and lead to personal damage, unrest in the work environment, and reduced productivity along with bitter & strained relationships with peers and family. So what is the antidote to fear? It is faith. Faith & fear both require the ability to see things that do not yet exist. When the imagined outcome is horrific, we call it fear and when it is endearing, it is faith. In fear we apprehend, in faith we anticipate. There are three things we can do to restore faith during Corona Crisis:
The Belief that we have the Built-in Capacity
Fear is an automatic reaction of our body and mind when it perceives danger or threat. It overwhelms us when we are facing a problem and we feel we don’t have enough ability to handle the situation and the pressure is beyond our capacity.
According to Quran, Surah Baqrah, verse 286, “we don’t burden any soul beyond its capacity”.
What does it mean that we already have the capacity to handle the situation. It is just that sometimes we don’t realize it.
Human beings have this incredible power to interpret any event to their advantage. It depends upon the way we perceive it. Two people undergoing the same experience may see it in a completely different way based on their perception.
Taking Control of Our Response
If we pause for a while and analyze how we deal with the various day-to-day situation, we might be surprised to notice a pattern that our reaction is often not in our control. We are merely REACTING not RESPONDING. What is the difference? To understand it simply, imagine what animals do when they are being attacked? They attack back. This is a REACTION of an ACTION.
Whereas when humans are attacked, they have the choice either to REACT or hold on and take control of emotions and then RESPOND.
In the current pandemic, analyze what is your state of response right now?
Indifferent Nothing is happening. It is just hyped news. I am chilling with my friends.
Victim: Why this misery has fallen on us? Anxiety is not letting me focus? What is going to happen?
Anger: This is all government’s fault? How long am I going to stay at home? Who is going to pay my bills? When everybody has got to rest why do I have to work the whole day without any help from the maid even?
Acceptance: Covid-19 is here. It can stay here for a while. I have to act responsibly for myself and my family.
Fighter: What can I do at this time? How can I manage and organize things? I have the ability to get through this. This too Shall Pass.
In the end, let us understand that fear is a human emotion, there will be times and days when fear would grip us but we must decide to not allow it to paralyze us so much so that we are unable to do anything. Let’s choose to hold on to the faith and emerge as a fighter. To become a fighter, the most helpful idea is to identify the factors which are in our control. Decide today that you’re not going to fret about uncontrollable factors in life. “Fear and Faith both demand you believe in something you cannot see. You choose!” Bob Proctor.
