Building Optimism in Facing the Pandemic

KOMPAS/LARASWATI ARIADNE ANWAR

Elderly people wait in line outside the Health Ministry training center on Jl. Hang Jebat in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Tuesday. They received a message broadcast on WhatsApp notifying recipients of free vaccinations for elderly people in the area. However, it turned out that the free vaccine was being offered only to elderly people with South Jakarta-registered ID cards and that the number was limited to 1,000 people per day.

The incessant and increasingly intense attacks of COVID-19 have eroded our optimism. Like a fortress, optimism must be strengthened. Don\'t let it collapse.

Optimism usually grows when there is hope and belief in success or at least a better future. On the other hand, pessimism comes when unfavorable events or fatalities continue to occur.

However, taking into account data on the trend of the growth of new COVID-19 cases and deaths, both in the world and in Indonesia, which have not shown any decline, this sense of optimism must be actively built. Not to mention when we hear the sound of ambulances sirens or when we get sad news in the form of texts, photos or videos sent by relatives and friends through social media, including chatting applications.

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Positive thinking is one way to build optimism. Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) wrote: “The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose.”

The wide gap between patients recovering and dying from COVID-19 can be considered the "rose”. World data shows that from a total of 187.4 million cases, 97.69 percent of patients have recovered. In Indonesia, of the 2.52 million positive confirmed cases, 82.5 percent have recovered, 14.9 percent are still undergoing treatment and 2.6 percent have died.

ISTIMEWA/HUMAS PEMPROV BALI

Screenshot of the Bali Province Covid-19 Task Force report on the development of Covid-19 cases in Bali Province on Wednesday (7/7/2021).

In this difficult situation, full of sadness, the spirit of solidarity is blooming. People work hand in hand to help their infected neighbors who conduct a self-isolation. They have also opened public kitchens for underprivileged residents who cannot work or have lost their jobs and some even make coffins (Kompas, 11/7/2021).

They are all amazing people.

Not a few have also struggled to risk their lives to win the battle on the frontlines. Doctors and health workers are at the forefront. Many of those who work in the public sector and in the field, such as state civil servants, members of the Indonesian military (TNI) and the Indonesian Police, as well as those who work in essential industries, including journalists, were infected with COVID-19. They are all amazing people.

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“Optimists don\'t wait for improvement, they make it happen,” says German theologian Paul Wilhelm von Keppler (1852-1926).

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Workers lower the fan prepared for the comfort of the Covid-19 patient-central isolation room at Pasar Rumput Flats, South Jakarta, Thursday (8/7/2021).

In stressful condition, apart from making various efforts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, building a strong mentality is no less important. The survival of 33 Chilean miners trapped for 69 days in the collapse of an old mine as deep as 700 meters years ago proves this. In overcoming the challenges, they worked together and took care of each other. In addition to regulating a limited food supply and medicine, there were also those who played a role in building hope. We need to spread the virus of optimism.

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).