Weighing in on the recent information and misinformation about the coronavirus scare, I’d like to offer a poem I wrote a few years ago about the subject of fear.

I call it “Fear As Epidemic,” to drive home the point that fear is sometimes worse than the thing that we are most afraid of!

H. P. Lovecraft commented that the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown!

Actually, we do not fear the unknown, but, in fact, we fear what we think we know about the unknown! “Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is,” to quote a German proverb.

Indeed, everything is unknown, and fear is an illusion. It doesn’t exist unless we create it! It’s all in our minds!

Defining moments of change occur to us when we choose to know our fear. Knowledge is power, remember??!!!

Now is the time to understand more, and to educate ourselves from reliable scientific sources. The unknown is a sea of possibilities. Explore them and learn!

I’ll leave you with two thoughts… ultimately, the other side of fear is freedom… and… courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it!.

FEAR AS EPIDEMIC

The epidemic of fear is the most contagious of all.
You can catch it over the phone; you can catch it in the mall.
I’ve even seen people with normally good sense
Catch it while talking to a neighbor over the fence.

From newspapers, from TV, there’s no end to the sources.
The fear epidemics run all kinds of courses:
On one end, negative thinking; the other end, bravado --
It manifests in crazy ways, making one a desperado!

Like other viruses, fear can bring a soldier to his grave.
A business man, a housewife, too, can soon begin to rave.
A sports nut, a nurse, a cop -- no matter the occupation --
All are subject to the results of fear and it's contamination.

Fact one is that when fear abounds the immune system is suppressed.
Blood pressure rises, the body is tense; the fatigue will make you depressed.
Over time, results are infections and cardiovascular abnormality.
Muscles can degenerate and one loses needed vitality.

Of course, the result is death, but then that’s one of the inevitabilities.
It’s just that worry and fear increase the vulnerabilities.
The biggest loss is quality of life while one is still walking around.
Fear paralyzes and stems the courage; one’s hopes are dashed to the ground.

The stronger the fear, the less inclined the person is to grow --
To start long-term projects, a career, a relationship -- with heart all aglow.
Life’s less fulfilling and less fun when fear takes hold of your soul.
It’s a miserable way to live, when fear takes pieces from the whole.