Starting with one

The principle of one has been there long before. I felt its application when I was working with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), a non-government organization spearheaded by businessmen who had a commitment to the social development of the country. 

The painstaking task of helping people help themselves was a vocation PBSP pursued.  And our Executive Director then, Ms. Aurora Tolentino would always remind us not to be frustrated if we do not immediately see the results of our labor as again, this was not a job, but a commitment to be of help. And even in the time of Abraham, he did not see the fulfillment of the promise to have children as many as the sand and stars but it started with Isaac, and from him came all the rest of the generations of Abraham.

Now why am I bringing this up? The starting with one? I have noted how frustrated we have been at the lifting and imposition of the quarantine. Whatever level. Personally, if the country could afford it, I would have preferred a three-month quarantine with complete lockdown. 

Had we known we would still have lasted this long with the COVID virus continuing to threaten our lives and our livelihood, maybe we would have just sat out the four months AT HOME in the early days. Maybe we could have totally eradicated the spread. No entry to all from wherever people want to move. Whether it be locally or internationally. Yes, that would have been a great move. But all of those are just wishful thinking at this time. And our leaders are in a quandary as to how to take it from here with the citizens divided in the approach. 

Business wants to move as they can no longer sustain their operations if they keep still.  The health sector on the other hand want stricter policies on movement and opt for enhance community quarantine positions so that there will be reduced contamination, enough to give them respite and to help the patients as well get the care that they need. 

With the rising cases, the attention that a medical practitioner may be giving to their patients may not be as focused considering the volume of patients they have to attend to. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I still believe the health workers are doing their best. But they are human, and they need rest. Where they need to be still, the workers and the entrepreneurs want to start moving.  Survival in this sense is paradoxical!

So we stare frustrated. 

I keep reminding myself not to succumb to the weariness of the COVID side-effects.  That meaning, loneliness due to social distancing, irritability due to restricted movements, and anxiety due to the uncertainty of how life will move on from here. We need to gear up awareness, that acute consciousness and concern for self and others. Ascertaining that we keep ourselves safe because we affect those close to us. That way we already start with two.  Ourselves and those immediate to us. And they in turn may pass on that concern to another.

Yesterday, while gassing up I noticed the three gas boys so close to each other. One wore his mask on his chin not covering the nose. The other covering the mouth but not the nose, and another, without a mask at all. At their cashier’s booth there was for sale face shields. I called their attention to how they were wearing their masks and how they did not follow social distancing. They fixed their masks and looked at me strangely. Then separated themselves. 

Honestly, I don’t know how long that reminder will last, but while the COVID spread is not yet controlled, I guess there should be no limit to our reminding others to take care, for themselves, and for those around them. 

We start with one. Even if it means, doing that one reminder every day. It has to be done.  One at a time at least.