January is one of my favourite months.
While often characterized by fad diets, enthusiastic gym subscriptions and unmet resolutions, the new year always brings with it a sense of great possibility.
Taking time to set goals and ask introspective questions helps to set us up for success.
This year feels a little different though, the new year feeling is somewhat dampened by the ravages of a pandemic we all thought would be long gone by now.
2020 was a traumatic year for most.
Some more than others.
Many people lost family and friends, businesses were knocked badly or went under, retrenchments were widespread and uncertainty and fear was the order of the day.
Like an unwanted guest that just would not leave, Uncertainty and Fear seemed to hog the bedsheets, leaving us shivering in the dark wondering when life would go back to normal.
Many allowed fear to colour their behaviour, reporting on neighbours for breaking lockdown rules and lashing out at others for dissenting views on everything from vaccines to 5G.
2021 is here now and life is far from normal.
That’s right, there was no magic wand to wave when the clock struck 12 and de-rona the year ahead.
The second wave is hitting us hard.
Now everyone knows someone with covid and more than likely knows someone who has died from it.
This is what we were expecting in March and never experienced.
Well, its here now and I refuse to be sucked into anxiety about the future.
The masks we wear are for our protection, yet it feels like the real mask is fear.
Fear of the unknown.
The future is always unknown. Nothing is ever certain – except death and taxes.
My resolution it to not to allow circumstances (and a mere pandemic at that) to mask the true potential that 2021 holds.
Yes it could be an awful year.
But it’s the only year we have and we have only to make the most of it.
Difficult times can also bring out the best in people.
Diamonds are only made under extreme pressure.
Certainly we saw that on the North Coast in 2020.
Soup-a-heroes sprang up to help the hungry making about 25 000 litres of soup during lockdown, neighbours fetched groceries for those isolating and many other extraordinary acts of kindness were what defined 2020 above anything else.
I never normally read the quote at the bottom of the page in my office diary but Monday’s really struck me:
4 things we can’t recover in life
Words after they’re said
Moments after they’re missed
Actions after they’re done
Time after it’s gone
In 2021 I purpose to daily take off the mask of fear and put on hope, making every word, action and moment count.
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