“Lebanon, how are you?” By Houda Harb
If only countries could speak. Don’t you wonder what they would say? What would a country like Lebanon say to us right at this very moment?
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Lebanon is a country feeling somewhat unloved right now. For to feel loved begins with loving ourselves from within.
If Lebanon did speak to us right now, would it tell us it was sad? Would it say it felt exhausted and broken? Would it say it felt like it had been wronged, abused, neglected? Would it say it wanted to throw in the towel & just quit? Perhaps. Although I think what it would really want to tell us is that it yearns to love and to be loved, it yearns to be a beacon of light for the world spreading hope in the belief that after tragedy comes sunshine & after crisis comes celebration.
News stories everywhere today about Lebanon will tell you the country has well & truly hit rock bottom and they show us little more than the devastation, backlash, and suffering. What they fail to show us is the Lebanese people who have chosen to continue living, breathing, waking up every single day, doing anything and everything they can to keep going.
Fortunately for Lebanon, it has people advocating for its betterment like Dr. Anthony Rahayel who beautifully showcases the unseen side of the country. A good, healthy dose of this appreciation and self-love for Lebanon, prescribed by Dr. Anthony, is just what the doctor ordered.
Doctors aren’t the only ones however who can help heal us - we can in fact all take a leaf or two out of Anthony’s book and adopt a more positive attitude in our lives and spread happiness and joy to people around us like he has been doing for years. It really is medicine for the heart and soul. And it’s actually a lot easier than we might think to be a positive force for others. Our positive actions often inspire others to do the same and have far-reaching impacts that outweigh our initial action since one small action invariably leads to another which leads to another, and so this goes on. It’s this positive force, this force of good, that breeds kindness in our world - and the resultant actions, a kindness chain.
Crisis or no crisis, tragedy or no tragedy, positive actions are something we can all practice more of and they need not cost a cent. The other great thing about positivity is it does not run the risk of shortages like we see today across Lebanon with medications and so many other everyday goods and necessities becoming increasingly impossible for people to access. So make use of this positivity remedy every single day. Doctor’s orders! Dr. Anthony Rahayel’s orders to be precise! Perhaps that way when we next wonder what Lebanon would say if it could speak, only happy thoughts would come to mind. “See you at your next Doctor’s appointment in Lebanon, for another dose of happiness & joy, only in the Rahayel clinic of course which is located in every village across Lebanon and everywhere in the Lebanese Diaspora.”
