Hope

To The World and To Those Who Fight by Lina Ibrahim

Dear World,

It seemed so dark and bleak lately. Left and right, we are making sacrifices but still, left and right, we are losing lives.

But World, I see that you are healing.

As it grew more chaotic, we were stopped in our tracks. Everything became restricted; our movements, our freedom, and we are all staying at home. For you and for the people.

We see you gradually healing, but more than that, we should have noticed ourselves healing, or maybe take this opportunity to heal along with you. Instead of complaining about this quarantined life, we should be counting our own blessings. But left and right, we are still pointing fingers, seemingly blind to the message that you are carrying.

We were so caught up with the fast-paced life that we forgot we are losing time. Our families are getting older, our time is getting shorter.

We should realised by now that this is the time, as much as for you, for us to heal ourselves. We complained about going to school but now, we are longing to go to school. We postponed the overdue hangouts with our friends, thinking we are promised for tomorrow, but now we can only hope we will see tomorrow.

Dear World, we have failed to appreciate all the little things that we took for granted.

Dear those who are in this fight,

We appreciate your time, effort and sacrifices. In the midst of the fight, we hope there will no longer be a single soul who waste the effort you put in.

We know that it is not easy for you to suddenly be put forward, to become a guard, to become a shield for the nation. We know that it is not easy to risk yourselves and the people around you, and those who might be the most important to you. We hope you know that everything you do does not go unnoticed.

Dear ourselves,

We know that there is going to be a better day ahead, but we are not promised to have it unless we work for it. Maybe this is a wake-up call for us to see the bigger picture, maybe we have been too caught up with life and this is a sign telling us to slow down. Maybe this is telling us to start making our lives worth the while.

But until then, I hope we do our part and we do our best.

Caption:

In times like this, where it seems like all hope is lost for some parts of the world, a reflection might just be the answer. This letter is addressed to the World and to those who fight, before addressing it to ourselves; a reminder that maybe all we need is to slow down.