Face to Face

Today I watched the President's daily briefing - likely death numbers are 100-240k. worst case with no mitigation (social distancing) is 1-2.2 million. But their mitigation estimates are still staggering and scary. That's 1/2 the number of deaths in WWII. That's the scale and weight of what we're currently dealing with. And the next 2-3 weeks will likely be the worst of it. All of us will likely at least know someone impacted - some will know them very well - and unfortunately some will themselves succomb to this.

I instinctively fall back to my spiritual beliefs. Everything happens as it is supposed to happen. Everything happens for a reason. We should live each day as if it is our last day, as it very likely could be. During these times, I think that philosophy is even more apt.

Who knows who will be part of the 100-240k? Hug and kiss your family as if this is the last time you'll see them. Get your stuff in order - wills, beneficiaries. LIVE as much as you can, right now. Give your family and your job every last molecule you can give, as if it is your last breath.

Stay home - isolate - sanitize anything coming into your home. Wash your hands and try to not touch your face. You are a valuable human being. Fight for your and the lives of your family.

Think of yourself as a warrior. You are facing an enemy. You have prepared and trained -yet the enemy is very dangerous. Do everything you can to protect yourself but don't let that stop you from engaging - engage in your life - your family - your job. Live more now than you ever have. Even if you ultimately have a week or two - live more in those weeks than you ever have. Love at the max. Give at the max. Blow all expectations away. If not now, then when? If you're part of the 100-240k, go out with a bang!

Let's all attack this thing with a spirit that cannot be defeated - a spirit of unity - a spirit that brings out the fighter in all of us. Let's resolve to give our very last breath to fighting and winning this battle. If we all fight with that warrior spirit, we can defeat any threat. Nothing can withstand that.

I pray for my family, my co-workers and friends, my peers, mentors and mentees. I pray for the healthcare workers, who must come face-to-face with this. I pray for the first responders, who are constantly put in situations which could take their life. These folks are the new heros - they always were heros but we just never looked at them as such.

I'm holding up a glass in a toast - a toast to all of you who face death every day. To all of you fighting to ensure cyber threats don't stop the medical mission to defeat this virus. And to everyone who is scared, isolated...

The next 2-3 weeks will be a sad, challenging time. I hope I'll be fortunate enough to see you on the other side.

My love to you all.