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The Flame Of Hope: Perspectives from Italy

I have no doubt that Science and researchers will find a vaccine to immunize everyone and completely defeat the virus. It’s not a question of if, it’s just a question of when. And this is precisely the problem: THE TIME. THE TIME TO LIVE WITH THE VIRUS before a vaccine can be found. Imagine that you are struggling to resume an appearance of normal activity in this condition. There are two aspects to consider:

  • The fear of contracting the virus
  • Precarious economic conditions linked to global objective factors impacting everyday life

If the time of coexistence with the virus lasts a long time, for example much more than a year, I fear that the two conditions may trigger a catastrophic mixture from a psychological point of view.

Why? Because we human beings not only cannot live without resources but also because we do not live by only material food, the human soul lives by other things, it needs to be nourished by hope, sociality, closeness, joy, sharing, motivation, fun, game, relaxation, love …

The thing that terrifies me the most of all this frightening matter is the two reasons mentioned above, the world, not only Italy, can, in the worst-case scenario, turn into a gray flat world in which we wander around like zombies, enslaved and attacked by something that cannot be seen and defeated – hopeless individuals who live like robots because we are forced to do it, not because it is pleasant.

The flame of life is fueled by the joy of life and by the feelings that harbor in the depths of each of us, regardless of personal conditions. IT IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL FACT that WE must be able to SEE THE END OF THE TUNNEL and to NEED SOMETHING INSIDE US TO LIVE, CREATE, CONTINUE AND WIN. IT IS THE HUMAN ASPECT THAT WE CANNOT IGNORE, EVERYONE, NOT JUST US ITALIANS.

I KNOW THAT WE ITALIANS HAVE SOMETHING INSIDE THAT HAS ALWAYS ALLOWED US TO OVERCOME EVERYTHING. I HOPE THAT EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD CAN FIND THE SAME STRENGTH. I KNOW I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HOPES THAT THEY CAN QUICKLY FIND A VACCINE, THAT PUTS HUMANITY BACK IN THE CONDITION OF A FULL LIFE, BECAUSE ONLY IN THIS WAY CAN WE DO IT, MAYBE THIS TIME, WITH MORE AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THINGS THAT WE ALWAYS IGNORED OR TOOK FOR GRANTED.

Thank you.

Massimo Scalzo
Massimo Scalzohttps://www.linkedin.com/company/cexecutives-inc
YOU MIGHT SAY that Massimo advises big and small companies, entrepreneurs and individuals on how to craft digital strategies that get tangible results from their tactics. Which is true. You might even agree with few german managers who called him “gute schlepper” (good tugboat in English) because of his inner strenght of pulling people toward visionary and positive goals. However, neither of these statements would be completely true. The truth is that from his childhood, Massimo was fed and watered to be someone who relates to people, is constructive, multilingual, loves the life and looks at the future. And the most amazing thing that came out of his attitude is the ability of conveying the same feeling to others For nearly twenty eight years he traveled and worked in management consulting in eight countries. His thoughts, notions, ideas, speaking engagements come from more than thirteen years as an entrepreneur and fourteen plus “on the road” for Touche & Ross, Deloitte and PricewaterHouse. On his path, he learned a great deal about customer-driven strategy and transformation, digital marketing and design thinking, working on behalf of a-z roster of clients, e.g. IBM, BMW, Frost & Sullivan, SAP, Oracle, Fiat, Salesforce, Accenture, OpenMinds and many other SMEs in several countries and industries. Massimo lives (as much as he can) in the greater Frankfurt area in Germany. He loves his two kids, Massimo and Amelka, more than anything else.

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16 CONVERSATIONS

  1. Very well said, Dear Massimo! You are absolutely on the mark when it comes to the two conditions identified above. I find solace in the fact the Universe has become one entity where we all share the same circumstances, the crisis, the helplessness, as well as the uncertainty surrounding the turning of this ‘virus’ clock a full circle. At the same time, I also shudder to think of an impending wave of depression, gloom, and end-of-life scenarios dancing in front of those with a lack of strong positivity.

    I don’t know if I am right or wrong, but I have stopped watching the news updates from around the world. Why, no matter which channel you tune into, all you see is a race to highlight the latest figures this virus has claimed as its helpless victims. I would rather NOT be the one keeping track of deaths while there is the much more critical side of recoveries. Let us celebrate the +/-97% survival rate.

    It is really unfortunate, we are repeatedly told how many died of the virus in which part of the world. But when it comes to victory over it, not many dare speak of the valiant job our medical teams are relentlessly doing, at great risk to their own well-being.

    I would like to see all humanity jointly salute these Soldiers of Peace that continue to give against all the odds! It is them that stand behind us as the real incarnation of the Lord Himself, nothing less. COVID-19 has given us a Wonderful Opportunity to Meet-and-Greet GOD, in real life, and survive to tell the tale to the future generations!

    Thanks, with Warm Regards, and a Prayer for All
    BM

    • Bharat thank you. I fully agree with you. As for me, I am convinced that we all are moving too slow in relation to reality. Reality walks much faster than our poor way of interpreting LIFE. I am convinced that we all are wrapped up in our senseless squabbles. I am convinced that we all are in the midst of a global crisis of perspective. I am convinced that we all are literally brothers and sisters and we all are cut from the same genetic cloth. I can’t help but think that it’s time to shift our perspective … to rethink who we really are, to reconsider our relationship with ourselves, each other and the world around us – to remember what we’ve all forgotten: OUR HUMANITY and WHAT IT REALLY MEANS THE PLANET EARTH TO US ALL. But to do so we need another breed of REAL LEADERS. An entirely different breed of true leaders. Thank you Bharat.

  2. Very well said, Dear Massimo! You are absolutely on the mark when it comes to the two conditions identified above. Personally, I find solace in the fact the Universe has become one entity where we all share the exact same circumstances, the exigency, the helplessness, as well as the uncertainty surrounding the turning of this ‘virus’ clock a full circle. At the same time, I also shudder to think of an impending wave of depression, gloom, and end-of-life scenarios dancing in front of those with a lack of strong positivity.

    I don’t know if I am right or wrong, but personally, I have stopped watching the news updates from around the world. Why, no matter which channel you tune into, all you see is a race to highlight the most advanced news of the tragedy we hate to see claim so many more victims every minute. I would rather NOT be the one keeping track of deaths while there is the much more important side of recoveries. Let us celebrate the +/-97% survival rate.

    It is really unfortunate, we are repeatedly told how many died of the virus in which part of the world. But when it comes to victory over it, not many dare speak of the valiant job our medical teams are relentlessly doing, at great risk to their own well-being.

    I would like to see all humanity jointly salute these Soldiers of Peace that continue to give against all odds! It is them that stand behind us as the real incarnation of the Lord Himself, nothing less. COVID-19 has given us a Wonderful Opportunity to Meet-and-Greet GOD, in real life, and survive to tell the tale to the future generations!

    Thanks, with Warm Regards, and a Prayer for All
    BM

  3. Massimo – My wife and I were supposed to go to Italy this fall, starting in…Milan. We go every other year to a different region. My wife, who used to run exchange programs for high school students, has seen most regions and speaks fluent Italian. She is my tour guide in your beautiful country. It pains me to read what is happening in Italy, and I live in NYC, the epicenter of virus in the U.S.

    I support and appreciate your message, but there is one sentence that I will adapt for my own purpose: “IT IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL FACT that WE must be able to SEE THE END OF THE TUNNEL. Yes, in terms of the virus, yes. But I wrestle with the idea that somehow I must design the end of my tunnel. Otherwise, I will feel completely at the mercy of events.

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Maybe we can visit on one of my trips. Italy nourishes my soul, so I must get back.

    • ABSOLUTELY TRUE JEFF! I fully understand you. It’s up to each of us to design the end of the tunnel of each of us, in the depths of each of us. Me too, believe me please, I strongly feel the need to be no longer a slave to the inevitable. I don’t want to be at the mercy of events. I once said: adverse conditions wake up my mind. I, massimo scalzo, do now avow and affirm it again. WE ALL HAVE TO WIN. Thank you for your words. You are always welcome in my country. Hope to meet you and your wife here in Italy, once all this is over! Be safe! Thank you.

  4. The covid-19 is certainly an unwanted guest and has asked us for sacrifice, resilience, even creativity if we want. All over the world, all governments have adopted strict virus protection measures, in the interest of people’s health. For once, it almost seems that the logic of profit has been dominated by the principle of safeguarding the individual. It seems that the priorities of the economic machine have been put aside to make health priorities prevail. It could happen, and everything must be done to happen, that this ‘shock’, in showing the profound limits of the current development model and in the need to look for another possible way, does not stop at the surface considering only the appearance of the health of men and women, but finally put the person at the center in his fundamental and unique value.
    Of course, we cannot lose the unique thing that keeps us alive: hope.
    Despair, the absence of hope, is the inability to see ahead to a future that is worth to meet. Hope means just believe in a future of joy promised, is like receiving an advance of that joy and wanting to continue to get its fullness. It should be possible to leverage its own resources, and to find other ways to tell his own story to oneself, enlarging it, finding explanations and alternative viewpoints. If I change my story, I will change myself and also my vision of the future, and I can make room for hope.
    I understand it’s not always easy to do it by yourself….but one can try!!

    • Yes Aldo, YES! We shall overcome this terrible tragedy … this is something that is testing the mettle of many … COURAGE & STRENGTH … not as a slogan … but as something that we must find in us in order to see the end of the tunnel … and maybe … I do hope … to have more self-awareness … and build a better world. Thank you Aldo. Be safe!

  5. Thank you for sharing your perspective, Massimo. The isolation we are experiencing now is difficult and contrary to how the human brain is wired. I’m right there with you in the hope that, as hard as this is, it may be the impetus for a positive change – a better way. My heart breaks for Italy as I watch the news and see the heavy grief you carry as a country. I’m sending you virtual hugs and much gratitude for sharing your thoughts with us here as a reminder that we’re ALL in this thing.

    • Thank you Melissa. This is a horrible time in human history and it was not the only one. I guess we’ll get past this, all of us, everywhere, even though it is an awful experience. A terrible ordeal. Maybe there’s a message in all of this … a means of emerging greater and stronger from this challenge … and above all wiser. Thank you for your words Melissa. Please be safe and let me virtually hug you!

  6. Thank you for sharing Massimo. It is hard to guess the psychological affect this catastrophe is doing on people. I think it will take a while for the shock to wear off. Before this happened I was concerned about the level of distance technology has created. No one calls anyone to talk. No one writes letters or sends thinking of you messages. Reading a text that doesn’t convey emotion or many times misrepresents emotions has just caused more distancing. I have started making checkin calls to family and friends and try to get people to laugh at something. Hopefully we can connect to people using FaceTime or Skype to see a smiling face or cry with each other but the missing physical connection will be more difficult to experience. So since I cannot reach out and hug you, I will do the next best thing and let you know that I alive you for the wonderful person you are. Stay safe, my friend and keep in touch (lol no pun intended!).

    • You are a nice person Helen! This is a difficult moment … no closeness … no sharing … no cheerfulness … TERRIBLE. We must find the strength to overcome all this! We have to Helen and we will. Thank you for appreciating my words and for your meaningful feedback. Stay safe please!

  7. Thank you for introducing and sharing the jewels of this beautiful city/country with me. From the hilltops and countryside to the history, music and breathtakingly beautiful seaside, The”Maldives of Italy” crystal clear sea and sandy beaches. To Matera, Trulli, Gallipoli, Santa Maria De Lueca….to name a few.

    The people, their energy, their kindness, the atmosphere, the way of life. Not to mention the truly fantastic food…these are the true treasures in life.

    5 months ago I never imagined that I could live anywhere in the world other than the birthplace of my parents, but I know I was wrong because I could definitely get used to calling this place home. ✨💕 Thank you for sharing your wisdom with the world.

  8. We require the nourishing words of love from one another, to hear the human voices say, “I love you. I care about you.” Nothing can replace human to human in person interactions. I am with you 100 percent, Massimo. May we not ever forget these basic human needs-touch, time, words of appreciation, acts of service, and gifts from the heart. Human beings are innately social creatures. May we not ever again take for granted the preciousness of our lives in immediate and present connection with one another. I’m with you. I hear you. May we come through and be transformed in ways nothing else could transform us. Virtual hugs to you, my friend, Massimo!

    • Yes Laura … yes … “Nothing can replace human to human in person interactions.” YES, NOTHING. TERRIBLE. This is a terrible time. I hope we have understood how fragile we are. I am with you, too, Laura and I hear you. We need “another way” … we need a CHANGE. Maybe all this will result in a Big Change. I hope so. Thank you for your words! Be safe and let me virtually hug you Laura! Thank you!

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