Although I engage in my work everyday with great caution, I am still left feeling deeply unsettled. I live with fear and worry everyday wondering how long this situation will continue, or thinking what if I get infected and pass on the virus to my family or friends.

虽然我每天工作都非常谨慎，但是我仍然深感不安。我每天都生活在恐惧和忧虑中，想知道这次疫情会持续多久，或思考假如我感染了新冠病毒，并传染给我的家人或朋友会怎样。

Not only am I confronted with reality in my workplace at the hospital but we are bombarded with disheartening news on the TV or newspaper on a daily basis. In the midst of such darkness leading to the unknown, what should we do and think in order to stay positive?

我不仅在医院里直面这样的现实，而且我们每天都被电视或报纸上令人沮丧的新闻狂轰滥炸。在这种通向未知的黑暗中，我们该如何做、如何思考，以保持乐观？

I concluded that the answer is “to write a message to people we care about.” A message of encouragement, conveying our gratitude to people who support us including our family and friends, colleagues and people in our community. If you do not have people you share a close relationship with nearby, you could also write a message to your future self, say ten years from now.

我总结道，答案是“给我们关心的人写信息。”通过一条令人鼓舞的信息，向支持我们的人，包括我们的家人、朋友、同事以及我们社区里的人传达我们的感激之情。如果你身边没有关系密切的人，你也可以给未来的自己写信息，比如十年后的自己。

By writing a letter to your loved ones, I believe that positive feelings and thoughts will naturally well forth such as, “I am going to overcome this situation in order to protect the well-being of this person who I care about.”

通过给你所爱的人写信，我相信积极向上的情感和想法会自然涌现，比如“我将战胜这场疫情，来守护我所关心的人的幸福。”

With that in mind, I wrote a letter to my third son who celebrated his first birthday amidst this coronavirus pandemic, addressing it nine years from now for his 10^th birthday.

考虑到这一点，我写了一封信给我的第三个儿子，他在这场新冠病毒疫情中庆祝了他的第一个生日。这封信是写给他九年后的10岁生日。

Dear Hiroyuki,

亲爱的博之

Hiro, what do you like to do nowadays? Is school fun everyday?

博之，你现在喜欢做什么？每天上学有趣吗？

Today, on April 23, 2029, you turned 10 years old!

今天是2029年4月23日，你已经10岁了！

When you were still in mommy’s tummy, it became too cramped for you, so you decided to arrive into this world a little early and I remember being a little sad that you had to stay in the hospital for a while, away from mommy and daddy. But I was so happy that once we brought you home, you grew everyday in good health.

当你还在妈妈肚子里的时候，你觉得里面太挤了，所以，你决定早点来到这个世界上。我记得，你不得不在父母不在身边的情况下在医院里呆一段时间，对此我有点难过。但是，我们带你回家后，我感到非常高兴。每天，你都在健康地成长。

I’m sorry that we couldn’t do much to celebrate your first birthday. That was when the coronavirus was spreading. We had planned to take a family picture to commemorate your birthday but we had to cancel and we couldn’t go out either, so all we could do was to buy a small cake and stayed home to celebrate.

很抱歉，我们不能为庆祝你的第一个生日。当时新冠病毒正在蔓延。我们原本计划拍全家福以纪念你的生日，但是我们不得不取消，而且我们也不能外出，因此，我们唯一能做的就是买一个小蛋糕，呆在家里庆祝。

(This virus was first reported in 2019, so it was named COVID-19. Looking back, the year your brother was born, there was a big earthquake in Japan and it was also a difficult time. All sorts of things happen in life.)

（这个病毒是在2019年首次被报道，因此被命名为COVID-19。回想起来，你的哥哥出生的那一年，日本发生了大地震，当时也是一个艰难的时期。人生总会发生各种各样的事情。）

When I think back to that year, I am still amazed how well everyone endured that period.  

当我回想起那一年，我仍然很惊讶，大家度过了那段艰难时期。

Several months before your one-year birthday, the coronavirus suddenly spread and people infected with the virus were also hospitalized where I worked. At the time, I was overwhelmed with worry and fear that I might pass on the virus to mommy or to you.

在你的1岁生日前数个月，新冠病毒突然传播，感染该病毒的人也住进了我工作的医院。当时，我不知所措，担心我会将病毒传播给妈或你。

(Don’t tell mommy but I sometimes cried when I was alone.) There was a lot of news on the internet and I felt so discouraged that it became hard to go to work everyday.

（有时，当我独自一人的时候，我会大哭，但是请不要把这些事情告诉妈妈。）互联网上充斥着大量的新闻。我感到非常沮丧，以至于每天上班都变得困难。

During such a time, a patient of mine said, “Doctor, thank you. I know it’s not easy but please take care of your health and hang in there!” and I was so encouraged. When you are having a tough time, comments even made casually can brighten your day. I made a decision that day to do my best and overcome this no matter what!

期间，我的一位病人说，“医生，谢谢你。我知道这不容易，但是请照顾好自己，挺住！”我深受鼓舞。当你遇到困难时，哪怕是随意给出的意见都能点亮你的一天。那天我下决心全力以赴，无论如何都要克服这个困难。

The founder of the elementary school that you are attending and that I also graduated from taught us, “to dedicate our lives for others!” Recalling this naturally brought forth courage within me. When you encourage others, you also feel uplifted and when you are in high spirits, we are able to have appreciation for other people. In so doing, by the time I realized, my worries and fear, and even the coronavirus had all disappeared.

你就读的那所小学（也就是我毕业的小学）的创始人教导我们，“将一生奉献给他人！”回想起这一教导仍会让我备受鼓舞。当你鼓励他人时，你也会感到振奋。当你情绪振奋时，我们就能够做到欣赏他人。通过这样做，我意识到我的忧虑和恐惧，甚至新冠病毒全都消失了。

It is hard being a doctor but I’m glad I became one because it is a job that enables me to help relieve the suffering of the person in front of me and instill hope in them.

做医生很难，但是，我很高兴我成了一名医生，因为这份工作让我能够帮助我的病人解除痛苦，带给他们希望。

I hope that you will study hard, read lots of books and play a lot with your friends right now, so that in the future, you can also become someone who is capable of helping others.

我希望你努力学习，博览群书，经常和朋友玩，这样，以后你也能够成为有能力的人，去帮助他人。

I’m sure you will experience a lot of hardships and struggles in the next ten years but please know that you will be able to overcome all of your current and future struggles without a doubt. If there is anything I can do to help, all you need to do is ask. When you grow up, you may also face difficult situations like the coronavirus, but when you are feeling down, please remember the words of our founder. I will do my best to support you, too.

我可以肯定，在未来10年里，你会经历很多困难和艰辛，但是要知道，你能够克服当前和未来的困难。如果有什么我可以帮忙的，你只管问我就行。在你成长时，你还可能会面临像新冠病毒那样的困境，但是当你感到失落沮丧时，请记住我们学校创始人的教导。我也会尽最大努力支持你。

I’m looking forward to our future together. Together, let’s do our best aiming toward the next ten years!

我对我们的未来充满期待。让我们一起竭尽全力，迎接下一个十年。

From Dad

来自父亲

What is it that we are faced with right now? Needless to say, we are fighting a virus filled with a lot of unknowns, but we are also faced with prejudice and discrimination stemming from worry and fear, as well as the selfish behavior of some individuals, and division between countries and people… In order to overcome this “wall/barrier in our hearts,” we need to connect heart-to-heart with the people closest to us through encouragement and appreciation.

我们现在面对的是什么呢？不用说，我们正在抗击病毒，这是一个充满许多未知的挑战。但是，我们也面临着因担忧和恐惧，某些人的自私行为以及国家与人民之间的分裂而产生的偏见和歧视……为了克服这道夹在“我们心中的墙/障碍”，我们需要通过鼓励和欣赏与我们最亲密的人心心相连。

My mentor in life taught me to live a life treasuring each individual and treating them with respect. In 2014, I had the opportunity to have an exchange with the members of the All-China Youth Federation as part of the Soka Gakkai youth delegation visiting China, where I learned that the youth in China also have this same life philosophy deeply engraved in their hearts.

我的人生导师教导我，活着要珍惜和尊重每一个人。2014年，作为创价学会青年代表访华的一部分，我有幸与中华全国青年联合会的成员进行交流。在交流中，我了解到中国青年也将同样的人生哲理深深地铭刻在他们心中。

It is precisely because we are in the midst of this unprecedented challenge that I will go back to my prime point as a medical practitioner and exert my utmost for the person in front of me.

正是因为我们处于这场前所未见的挑战中，我才能找回我作为医生的初衷，尽我所能帮助那些病人。