If you can find some sense of solace from the conclusion of 2020, then good for you.
Social media is inundated with folks expressing their relief at the year finally being over. Life has changed for most Americans in the past 12 months – especially for those whose livelihoods were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. America learned more about itself in 2020 than it has in a single year since 2001. We as a society were asked to put the greater good of our people above our individual liberties and desires, and the results weren’t always encouraging.
2020 has been a long, arduous ride for everyone. For me, 2020 consisted of graduating college during a pandemic, getting my first reporting job, losing my grandfather and having to wear masks at his funeral and then contracting COVID-19 myself, which put me in the hospital at one point. Then, after all of that, I was notified that my university had canceled my previously delayed graduation ceremony. I never got a cap and gown. I will never get to walk the stage as a college graduate.
However, I’m a firm believer that life is about taking the good with the bad. There are a lot of other things this year that happened in my life – good and bad. I’m sure the same is true for most people. This year has been draining It feels like it has lasted forever. But the world will not change magically at midnight. We have to be better. We have to be kinder to other people, our community and the world at large if we want other people, our community and the world at large to be kind to us in return. The Golden Rule was given its name for a reason – because kindness is evergreen. It’s never out of style. It always helps, and it’s never too early or too late to reevaluate how you see others and yourself.
We also have to be kinder to ourselves. As humans, we need to learn over time to forgive ourselves and allow ourselves to grow from our mistakes, misfortune, loss and grief as much as we do from personal gain and successes. We have to allow ourselves to fail and get back up. We have to allow ourselves to not be perfect and to embrace those imperfections. I’ve had to learn that myself this year.
But more than anything, we must all remain hopeful. 2020 has given us countless reasons to be cynical – to look at what’s ahead with jaded expressions and rolled eyes. We have learned a lot about ourselves this year, and not all of it was good. Optimism is not a feeling that 2020 has inspired… But maybe 2021 will be different. We have to remain hopeful that that’s true.
So, be kind, let yourself learn from your failures and your grief and hold onto the hope that something better is around the corner. Enjoy the time we all have together now. Try to embrace the little comfort that comes with sharing this collective experience with each other. That’s my resolution for myself and others, and I hope it will be yours as well. Happy New Year.