Pandemic Fear Factor

Each one of us has gone through negative experiences in life, experiences that may have left a huge deposit of negative memories in our mind. For the last three months, we have been subjected to fear of the Virus despite some learned Doctors who explained to us in-depth that Immunity and Immunity alone is vital to combat the Virus!

The story of the Monkeys in the cage perhaps explains our scenario:
An experiment was conducted in which five monkeys were put in a cage with a banana hanging on a rope beyond the reach of the monkeys. A step ladder was placed inside the cage to enable to reach the banana. But there was a catch that whenever one of the monkeys tried to reach the banana, all monkeys were showered with freezing cold water.

After a while, all monkeys learned that there was an association between reaching out for the banana and the collective punishment of being sprayed with freezing water. There was no longer need for the cold water; no monkeys would attempt to reach for the banana.

The Researcher then replaced one of the monkeys with a new monkey. The new monkey, not aware of the icy water treatment, tried to reach the banana. Within a fraction of a second, the other four monkeys attacked him again and again until he no longer tried to reach for the banana, though he never experienced icy waters; he didn’t know why he was attacked!

One by one, the monkey who had experienced the icy water was replaced by a new monkey. With the introduction of each new monkey, other monkeys would attack him until he quit trying for the banana. Somewhat along the way, they learned that reaching for the banana was not allowed; they became the guardian of this rule without knowing its purpose.

We are somewhat in the Cage Culture! The fear is crippling our mentality -The problem is one might become so guarded that they may reject any genuine opportunity for a breakthrough in their life. As with the monkeys-the fear of being beaten was instilled in them. What is happening to us, then? What feelings are we fed by the media and the authorities?

My question to you all is, what have you stopped doing because you fear ice-cold water will be sprayed on you? Fear -is the main reason many people have stagnated in life. We have to pick up our life and move on.

Fear is an emotion that only serves to block your development and potential, ensuring you never really become your ultimate best! It helps to work on one’s Emotional Intelligence.

"Fears are educated into us, and can if we wish, be educated out,”— said Karl Augustus Menninger. Indeed, many of the fears we entertain are instilled in us, as we have seen in the case of the monkeys.

"The oldest and the strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown”— H. P. Lovecraft.