Ever walked into a dark room, where there was no light whatsoever?

At least, have you ever had a nightmare about it?

There potentially could be monsters going after you; or whatever your imagination creates for entertainment. Now, what if this was a metaphorically real situation, where the darkness was lack of hope and the monsters were corrupt politicians taking away your rights from you?, Pretty depressing, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, that’s how Lebanon is today, except it’s a bit more complicated.

What’s complicated about it is the paradox implemented by the Lebanese people, the duality of what is going on is so black and white that sometimes it doesn’t feel real.

There’s an economic crisis yet people are still going out, buying stuff, and planning weddings.

There’s an obvious systematic corruption. Yet, people still support political parties with zeal.

There’s a pandemic. Yet, people still go to meaningless riots without face masks.

And the worst part is that whatever riots they try to do, the army made out of the progeny of the people, stands up and fights against said people, and the riots end up being ignited in vain.

There were only three times when I witnessed the Lebanese people standing together for a cause no matter what their belief, political ideology, financial status, and or religion; on the 17th of October 2019, on August 4th, 2020, and on August 4th, 2021. This means that my people have the capacity to rise against the oppressive system and do something. Yet, they aren’t. I don’t know if they’re waiting for the right moment, or if they made peace with being degraded. Maybe they feel like I do, meaning that even if they wanted to do something, they may be alone in it and get killed by some political mafia, dramatic but it happened before.

So, what’s the point of me writing this? Well, it’s therapeutic, for starters. However, it’s also a positive psychology thing – it’s me creating my own light by making myself count my blessings – at least I relatively still have the freedom of speech and of thought. It’s a relief to see that I still have some of my rights and that I’m still capable of profiting from things that others may not have, even if my circumstances may not last too long. What I’m trying to get to is the following: realistically, there is no rock bottom, and a “miserable situation” is subjective; as it differs from one person to the other, meaning that a bad situation could potentially get worse, but that’s it, potentially; that is if you’re set on staring at the empty half of the cup. From a different perspective, looking at the full half of the cup, you can realize that there’s a potential for you to make your own situation better, either by counting your blessings, or looking at the outside world to realize that you’re not the only one going through a rough patch, or any other way that is healthy and that makes you smile. Then, there’s (my favorite) a third option, to see the cup and say that it has water, realism. The situation in Lebanon is much bigger than I am. Alone, I can’t solve it, so I’ll wait until I find the right moment and the right people who’ll help me create change. Until then, I can talk about it, and mostly, adapt. That’s the point, if you can’t solve the problem adapt to it and face it from a distance until you find the right means or the right tools (or both) to solve it. Don’t fight too hard because you’ll end up being drained while the problem still remains.

Just don’t lose hope.