‘I am afraid for the peak to come after the peak,’ he said. His long grey hair looks as desperate as his words. ‘I can’t give specific hope, I can’t appoint a date in the future, when this will all be over,’ the lady next to him confirms his worries. ‘But this will be over one day. This will.’

Around the table are various experts. It is the late evening news coverage on the television of a European country. One of those countries that is on the third wave of Corona. After China, Italy and Spain were the first to get smashed, other European and now American, Asian and African countries are following suit.

Looking at China, Italy and Spain, now they all know how the curve looks like. Not only in theory, but in reality. As soon as that reality came to them, they all started doing whatever they could to flatten the curve. To increase the capacity of the health care sector, and decrease the numbers of health care seeking people. Flatten the curve, they say.

Nobody asks which curve. They all know. Now we know.

Flatten the Curve

Hence, this country is as many others in lockdown as well. They decreased people’s movement, and increased health care capacity. They want to flatten the curve desperately. ‘There are still hospital beds available,’ quietens the government the worried citizens. They want to flatten the curve, but the curve hasn’t even reached its peak yet.

It is a matter of time. They know. The measures are taken, people stay at home. It is a matter of time. They hope. The virus is tracked, they are on the track of Italy and the first wave’s countries. It is a matter of time. They wish. They look at China. Yet, do they know about the underreported numbers, do they know about the extreme measures they took, do they know everything? It is a matter of time, they know.

The Other Peak

Yet, after the peak of COVID-19 patients, recovered and death citizens, there will come another peak. The older man at the table strikes his hands through his grey hair, bends his head slightly down. ‘I am afraid for the peak to come after,’ he says. As a psychiatric, he knows.

He has seen the number of psychological problems increasing since the start of the lockdown. That as well, has happened in the countries of the previous waves: after the peak of Corona, came the peak of depressions, anxieties, and other psychological issues.

Better Times to Come

‘People need hope,’ says the interviewer, ‘Can’t you give us anything?’ The man and the lady hesitate to answer. They choose their words carefully. They know. ‘I can’t give you something that is not true,’ she says. He confirms. ‘But better times will come. We’ve been through bigger crises during history. And we survived. Better times will come. And we will survive.’

I appreciate their honesty and vulnerability. As she says, we’ve been through bigger crises throughout history, and we survived. Yet, history has always been written afterwards. Little did the soldiers in 1914 know that the war would be over four years later, little did they know that they would survive, and not get injured. Little did the Syrian knew ten years ago that he would abandon his country, survive the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea in a ship wreck and make a new living in Europe. Little did the El Salvadorian knew that he would survive the dangerous walk along the border, make it pass the border of Mexico to the United States, surviving the violence, and life-threatening situations on the road. Little did the young girl knew she would become a great mother after her husband died in the car accident she survived during her pregnancy. Little did they know they would be fine, living happily ever after. But they did.

Do the Hawk

When you find yourself in an inhabitable landscape, bordered by incertitude, with no clear view on the horizon, do the hawk. If you feel like even for a minute the walls are walking towards you, taking your ability to move away, do the hawk. If you feel like the world around you becomes too challenging, and you doubt if you can take this challenge, do the hawk.

If, despite you having made good intentions, tapped your untapped potential, ordered your time and organised it the way you want to during these times of Corona (as described in my previous blogs), you still feel trapped at a second and doubt if you really have the power to handle this, do the hawk.

The Dot on the Timeline

If you feel running out of breath, and the world becomes too much. Do the hawk. Spread your wings, fly out, fly up. Fly high above the inhabitable landscape you feel like being at. Fly as high as possible, until it looks just a little dot under you. Fly high and look around you. Feel the breeze carrying your wings, and see it all from the distance you have taken.

See the horizon, feel the perspective. See the small dot you have left behind, feel how it is just a dot on the timeline of your life. See the emptiness in the air around you, feel the space to move and breath. Feel the lightness of the air around you, see how things are already moving.

Keep circling around until you find your inner peace. You don’t have to go anywhere from here, just be here. Watch and observe. Not the small island of your current existence, but the bigger planet you make part of. Watch and observe. Not the narrowing walls around you, but the widening edges of the universe.

The Bigger Picture

Fly up, circle as long as you want to. Stay here for a while. Take a distance. Open your eyes, your heart and your mind. Better times are to come, over there, at the horizon, where the sun will one day rise again. You know it will, just not yet.

Know that whatever you feel, the anxiety, the incertitude, the specific situation you are at, is no more than a dot on the timeline. Fly up, see the dot, see the bigger picture.

The world’s history is written afterwards, and so is yours.

So, fly up, see your timeline, face your situation. This too shall pass. Be the hawk when it all becomes too much. Now you have the time to take the time to put your own thoughts and feelings on a pause. To fly up and circle around, take distance to gather back some energy, some courage, some insights.

Take distance in your mind and/or physically. Switch off your phone and the news for a few minutes or a night, go for a long walk without a talk, or talk about something totally different. Dare to dream about the good that is yet to come; dare to take back control over that what is in your control.

Dive Down

Before you dive down again, embrace your insights, your perspective and your feeling of inner peace. Take a deep breath. You own this situation. You can do it, you can pass the dot on your timeline, as we can pass the peak and flatten the curve. Better times are about to come. You have seen it now, by taking the distance you needed.

Dive down now, you’ll see the horizon will look closer, the walls less threatening and the night less dark. Whenever you feel the urge, step out, fly up and high and put your situation in another perspective. You will surrender. Be the hawk. This too shall pass.

Unleash the hawk in you, spread your wings and fly as far and as long as you need. Regain perspective, regain hope, regain control. Know that better times will come, and you have more in you than you know.

This article is part of the series of Hope in Times of Corona. Read on how this times of self-isolation should not mean loneliness, on how you can contribute to this battle, on how gratitude lights up the dark, on how united we will stand strong. and on the most util strategy in awake of a crisis or on how I got blown of my feet as well, but caught by many caring hands, or on how being calm can get us through the storm. And what about Love in Times of Corona? or discovering your own talents? and why we need stories to hold on to;   And especially how you can be creative and innovative. or how to spend your mot valuable assets in times of Corona. and how to listen to the sound of silence. and How breate taking Corona really is. and discover the other freedoms Corona has shown us, as well as about the new-born freedom Corona gave us. Or wait until tomorrow, when I’ll shine another light on yet another positive corner of this dark times.