Last May-2020, as we were all grappling with an unexpected tsunami wave, uprooting our ‘known normal’, I had captured my thoughts in my blog listing – I am Scared at that time. The tidal tsunami wave wiped the shoreline of our lives and created a new one, which sealed us in a bubble for the last 12 months. Although it turned our lives upside-down and inside-out, we evolved, and it did not make a dent to the human spirit. Our gene pool has been exposed to a lot more, over the existence of humanity. We did have some losses of near and dear ones – but we bounced back, when we started seeing the end of the long dark tunnel, with science lighting the torch and leading the way with vaccines.

Today I can say undoubtedly, “I am no longer scared, just cautious”. This is how I concluded my last May’s blog posting:

I feel I have overcome my scare and fear of the unknown virus. It is a choice, we made jointly at home. I know what I should do and what I have to avoid at all costs. My travels outside my home are targeted and focused to achieve specific objectives. I arm myself with a heavy-duty face mask and a lighter one over it. I put on gloves, as required – when I am inside a grocery store – and promptly discard them as I exit. I carry a Purell bottle in my pocket. As soon as I get back into my car, I ‘purellify’ my hands vigorously, before touching any surface in my car. Believe me; I am still scared, as I step out of my home….. And I choose to manage my scare/fear because I want to be alive. I want to be in control of my life and am tired of living in fear.

Wikipedia defines Scare/Fear as – “Fear is closely related to the emotion anxiety, which occurs as the result of threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable. The fear response serves survival by engendering appropriate behavioral responses, so it has been preserved throughout evolution”

Compared to Scare/Fear, – “Cautious means prudently watchful and discreet in the face of danger or risk. CAUTIOUS implies the exercise of forethought usually prompted by fear of danger”

Often, people confuse the two – Scare and Caution. The former can paralyze you, causing more negative feelings, while the latter can be liberating. Being cautious allows you to be in control as you transition away from the paralysis, based on the analysis of your situation.

Based on our life choices above – like most of our friends, family, and colleagues, we have emerged untouched by the deathly virus, a year later. As we evolved our lives to fight the virus, it also evolved/mutated into new more frightening variants to continue to try to dominate humanity. It will not give up; at some point the number of hosts it needs to propagate and survive will diminish exponentially…. And humanity will thrive once again having achieved herd immunity.

We recently got our life saving vaccines and feel liberated. We have met our 2-week, post last vaccine shot milestone, and feel blessed that we can burst our bubble (it almost feels real), and cautiously start venturing out. Of course, cautious implies totally following the CDC guidelines and not challenging the new more combative variants emerging every day.

Nothing has changed in our lives after the vaccination – and it should not, with respect to our attitude towards the virus. It is still out there, trying to fight back every time we gain ground and get the upper hand in controlling it. Yet, although vaccinated – if we let our guard down, chances are very high that the virus may still infect us. Although, we will be protected from severe illness and harm. If infected, we can still be asymptomatic spreaders.

We have lost the intense scare and fear that haunted our every living moment for the last year. Instead, we have donned the armor of caution and have decided to rediscover our lost world and start relishing everything that life has to offer. We have already lost 1 year of our lives. Let us catch up on the lost time.

Closing, with the Star Trek Vulcan salute – LIVE LONG AND PROSPER, my friends.