We never imagined that one day we would become annoyed, terrified, and afraid of being positive—until the Coronavirus “COVID-19” and its variants appeared. Since the emergence of this accursed virus, we have become fearful and panicked the moment a message reaches us or we receive a test report and the result is “positive.” At that point, it becomes necessary to enter isolation and stay away from all people, even the closest relatives, and you become shunned by society. It has also become obligatory that everyone who mixes with you or deals with you must be isolated as well. So what happened? All this time we used to say, “Be positive.” I believe this is a living proof of the saying, “Nothing remains as it is, and change is God’s trait in His universe.” Glory be to the One who changes and does not change.

These days, we often feel fear and panic when we catch anything we previously considered normal, such as a runny nose or catching a cold—things we used to consider natural in the winter season. Even this “normal” is no longer available, and we have begun talking about the new normal “New normal.” Everything has changed since this pandemic occurred, and we have become in need of changing our lifestyle, our way of thinking, and how we deal with different matters and situations—because overnight everything changes. What we considered normal yesterday has become today a new normal, and what we used to advise yesterday—“Be positive”—has become something we hate and fear today: a “positive test.”

Therefore, let us rearrange our papers and think in a completely different way so we can keep pace with the new reality in the time of “COVID-19.” It seems that “COVID-19” will remain with us for a period of time, and we will be infected with it at one time or another. The end of life will only be at the time that “God Almighty” has decreed. We must deal with the “new reality” with a mindset completely open to all possibilities. What matters most is not what result we will get and what its indications are, but rather that we always be positive in our way of thinking—and that our test be negative—by following preventive measures and dealing intelligently with different situations. Life changes intensely, and we must keep up with it in the speed of change and move away from the rigidity that kills everything—“creativity and the ability to think.” We must possess the ability to change, break rigid molds, and always think outside the box so we develop in the same way the universe around us changes, so that a day does not come when the wheel of life crushes us and we vanish. This too is a law of life among those before us: everything that remained rigid disappeared.

And always remember: “Be positive and your test negative.” “Be Positive; Test Negative.”

Written by Dr. Hamada Al-Antabli