Let’s not be shy to declare 2021 as our year of breakthroughs

“Next year is my year.”

This is a popular phrase people use just before we celebrate the beginning of a new year. It is a phrase commonly used throughout the month of December in self affirmations and assurance that the new year we are about to usher in signals new beginnings that will bring blessings in their lives.

However, 2020 has humbled us so much that I have not seen a single person coming out to boldly claim 2021 as their year of breakthroughs and fortunes. Perhaps instead of saying Twenty-Twenty-One, we are silently saying to ourselves “Twenty-Twenty-Won”.

We are in despair. We are seemingly handing over victory to a year we haven’t ushered yet. We have surrendered our hopes and dreams to the one year that left many of us jobless, hopeless, faithless and probably some even feeling worthless.

Withstanding the tragedies of this year we all wish didn’t happen, the staunch Christian in me believes that victory comes through adversities. In other words, things sometimes have to be really awful before they get really great.

You don’t even have to subscribe to any Christian values. In our daily language usage, we often say, “It gets worse before it gets better, or no pain no gain.”

The year 2020 is an infusion of worse and pain. And I believe that it should not cloud our present and future with fear. It is our responsibility to remain hopeful and keep the faith as we solider on. This long and dark corona virus tunnel will eventually get closer to the end where we see light.

Perhaps those in doubt will eventually declare 2021 as their year in the next coming few days. Approaching new beginnings with a negative attitude may somehow result into the new year becoming a continuation of hopelessness, joblessness and faithlessness.

As a country and the world at large, we need to have an attitude that exudes positivity. Many motivational speakers would say to this nation, “Remember that your attitude determines your altitude or destitute.”

We do need positivity and good news. The Covid-19 infections and mortality rates are discouraging. But we shouldn’t be deterred. It is evident that we are going to carry over the Corona virus and lockdown into the new year.

Perhaps we should aggressively adhere to the mantra of wearing masks, social distancing, washing of our hands and using the sanitiser regularly. This would help us to start seeing positives around this pandemic.

It would be refreshing to see a daily report with zero death and infections recorded for the day.

Above all, we have to remain positive and faithful that 2021 is going to be a better year. The practicing of our faith for positives means we should remember that faith without actions is dead.

Let’s have faith that 2021 is going to be a great year, and may we confidently write posts on social media saying; 2021 is going to be my year, knowing very well that we will act accordingly to make it a possibility.

Kabelo Chabalala

Kabelo Chabalala is the founder and chairperson of the Young Men Movement (YMM), an organisation that focuses on the reconstruction of the socialisation of boys to create a new cohort of men. Email, kabelo03chabalala@gmail.com; Twitter, @KabeloJay; Facebook, Kabelo Chabalala

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