Maybe for the first time in our recorded history, the whole world
came together as a conscious unanimous response to stop this pandemic. Sure,
the response wasn’t ideal and we’re not entirely out of the woods, but can I be
brave enough to say that the response was a whole lot better than what we have
been able to muster in the last 10000 years. I for one am glad I was part of
that effort in my own insignificant way by wearing a mask, sanitizing my hands,
and getting jabbed a few times. I can’t help but feel just a little proud as a human
being of the global response.
As we’re beginning to loosen the grip of fear the pandemic had on us and start building back our homes, our enterprises and our countries, I hope we remember that with adversity there is also opportunity. The opportunity to be better than what we were. The opportunity we tasted the last couple of years as we worked together to combat the virus while keeping our civility and sanity.
As Sri Lankans we can choose to grab the opportunity by
honoring our duty, with optimism based on reason (which I am hoping to write
about later on), with tolerance for one another and cooperation. Or we can
choose to let the loss and hurt define us and let it send us back even further
down the chain. The river that flows finds a way. Around the obstacles or
through them. So let the river flow.
