It is Time to be "Serious" about being "Serious"

March 2020

Our lives and those of the rest of this planet are now centered around the coronavirus-rightfully so. Listening to the daily briefings from the CDC show that this virus, with a significant death toll, and rising, affects more than 150 countries around the world.

 

I think that these events should cause us to reflect on how "serious" we think this virus is and how "serious" we are, as individuals, in doing our share in protecting ourselves, our family and consequently our planet.

 

We must be careful not to adopt the "Brady Sluder mentality of reckless abandonment" and ignore this disease--that is carrying on one's life without regard to the welfare of our fellowman. We need to reflect on how "serious" we view this disease and to take sole responsibility for our actions. For in today's society, with reckless abandonment, it would be easy to infect a significant part of the population or be infected or reinfected oneself, thereby widening the scope of the virus and its impact on mankind.

 

So what does it mean to be "serious?" It means that no one is insignificant in either the containment or the transmission of this disease. It means that we need to be "consequential thinkers" and to reflect before we act. We need to think, "What impact will my behavior have on myself, those around me and society at large?" Quite frankly, to view it any other way would be foolish.

 

In this case of the coronavirus, being responsible and not acting in reckless ambandonment is to be a steward of our human civilization-even if this means sacrifice, physical distancing and self-quarantine.

 

We need to move from an "I" mentality to a "WE" mentality and believe, whether we like it or not, we are in it together.

 

Conor McGregor, the former UFC champion and Dubliner-yup he is the one--said it most succinctly:

 

     "Any less than full adherence to these newly put forth methods (physical distancing, self-quarantining...) by any member of our society will not only be a mockery to what we are attempting to do--it would put the rest of our great nation in danger."

 

I invite you to take the "I'm Serious Challenge" and view this pandemic through this lens and realize that each of us plays a role in either the containment or eradication of this disease and the potential life and death of our fellow man.