BRIG NASEEM AKHTAR KHAN (R)
THE plight of people all over the world, while they are undergoing these tough times due to coronavirus outbreak, is quite understandable. Time is hard for those who have been directly hit by this pandemic, while is equally scary for others, slowing down almostthe completelife cycle, converting it to a single track precarious going. The situation demands a very positive role from all of us, individually as well as part of the society.Whilethe scientists, doctors, paramedical staff, governments and law enforcement agencies are playing their role effectively, we all need to think how we can contribute to these efforts while, we ourselves, religiously follow the safety instructions issued by relevant authorities. I think the best thing that everyone of us can do is to “stay positive and help others to stay positive”. We all need to understand that life sometimes becomes hard, but it really becomes more tough when our chips are down and when we feel ourselves at the lowest ebb, it hits us the hardest. It is, therefore, important that we take these hard moments as a part of life and move on. How much we succeed in this, will largely depend on our ability to persevere through the adversity without succumbing to the pressure. It is time for all of us to stand up to the situation boldly. Self-motivation and motivating others are the need of the day. Instead of looking for loopholes, finding faults among each other and getting into blame games, we must start looking for something positive that can give us a lift, raise our morale and increase our resistanceto facethesetoughmomentswith carefully constructed modus-operandi. Being an ex-army man, the situation reminds me of our days as cadet in the military academy and how we were taught to face hard times with courage,motivation andteam spirit. It will be interesting for many to know that before each tough event that we were to go through during our training, we used to sit together as platoon and carry out a brief appreciation of the situation, conclude our strength and weakness and make a strategy to put up a high standard of performance as a team. Depending onthetype of event, we would identify the strong participants and pair them up with those who were comparatively weak in that activity. The best example of such a teamwork was always evident during marathon races, obstacle courses and battle inoculation exercises with live firing all around our bodies. In all such like training activities each weak participant are seen paired up with a tougher guy, continuously gearing him up to keep going and at the end, closer to the finishing point, rest of the platoon (that would reach the finish line much earlier) standing on the sides of the track, shouting “10, 10, 10”,10 being the best score for the race. Even the training staff would join in, to buck-up the competitors. During these hard times, it is always best that we keep ourselves busy and convert our frustration and fear into something positive. Apart from our usual activities that we must continue under due precautionarymeasures,we should get into voluntary help service to the needy, irrespective of cast, creed, religion and nationality. In many places, loneliness is another bigissue which normally goes unnoticed. There must be many people who have not spoken to any human for weeks. They need to be contacted and connected to others. We must remember that life isn’t always bad. These seemingly unending days of fear, pressure and pain are atemporary phenomenon, an insignificant period of our life that will be over soon, Insha’Allah. Remaining positive is important to make the present moment less difficult. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we will sail through the prevailing situation with less fear and frustration. At the end, adding a few relevant quotes from people of vision, may help in making it more purposeful and effective. “The difference between stumbling blocks and steppingstones is how you use them.” Unknown “Every adversity, every failure and every headache carry with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hills “Tough never last, but tough people do.” – Robert H Schuller.And to conclude, my friends, I sum up everything I have learned about life and I want all others to remember, “Life goes on…” —The writer is Security Management Professional.
