Some people do not believe in magic. While some swear there is no beauty left in the world! Then, how would you justify the entire world coming together on one night to celebrate the hope of a new year? We may not have chosen the year 2020 to be interrupted by a global pandemic, but let us be grateful and wave a last goodbye to it.
Source – https://www.pexels.com/
The year 2020 undoubtedly has taught us a million things. While, it has been a difficult year for most of us, for some it turned out to be productive. The novel coronavirus damaged us in inconceivable ways and overshadowed nearly every aspect of the year 2020. Not to mention, the dreadful pandemic changed our way of living. Moreover, it hit us hard with an iceberg of anxiety, uncertainity and unrest along with many tipping points. While there may be a million reasons to loathe this year, I can assure you there is always something wonderful ahead!
2020 Not as we planned !
Who thought that a virus had the power to turn our lives upside down? This year gave us a global pandemic along with financial crunches. Let us talk about the technicalities first. The COVID-19 outbreak spread like a wildfire, locking us all in the extremities of our homes for months. Death records increasing, challenging lifestyle and wearing masks everywhere you go out became a regular news. And, in-person human interactions, social gatherings and out of heart hugs had now become a luxury. Initially, the coronavirus didn’t really grab my attention. Like every other college student, I took this outrageous virus as an excuse for vacation spending it in the comfort of my home. Little did I know that this coronavirus vacation was just the start of a never-ending pandemic. The virtual world had evolved with online lectures and work from home becoming the new normal.
Today, on new year’s eve, as we look back, we may reminisce this year that was filled with fear, anxiety, love, laughter and sorrow. Indeed, 2020 will be marked in pages of history! It was not just the novel coronavirus that disturbed us globally but also the ensuing impacts that it laid on us. I personally feel, this year greatly contrived on our mental health. In the beginning, we took this lockdown as a break from our busy lives. But, gradually we started to fall into its pitfalls. Many people would relate with me here as I say there was a time where you must have felt, “Make it Stop!.” The “Make it stop” here signifies the insecurities, anxiety and fear that crosses one’s mind indefinitely.
Heartbreaks come along
Source – https://www.pexels.com/
I have heard people saying all the time, if something bothers you, talk it out! They say venting out makes you feel better. Sure it does! But the real question is, does venting out your deepest fears to your closed ones help you overcome them? In my opinion, being vulnerable and opening up about your insecurities, your fears is something extremely valiant. And when one does open up about his or her fears to you, consider yourself to be significant.
One of the important lessons that 2020 taught us is that “nothing is certain!.” We all entered 2020 with a great sense of excitement, clarity and purpose. But alas! 2020 had different plans. As we took connections and feelings for granted, we got tangled into the haywire of human emotions in no time. While love, laughter and joy bloomed somewhere, loss, grief and heartbreaks transpired elsewhere. Heartbreaks are the most wholesome escapades that life can ambush us with. Because they tell us that sometimes it is okay to let to go. Sometimes listening to your own heart is way more important than putting your ear to someone else’s. However, letting go is the easy part, it is the moving on that is difficult. Pain is bearable only if you try hard enough. But that does not mean you have to. Learn to seek help!
“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” – John Green
Silver linings in the cloudy skies of 2020
Life is too short to focus on things that are less important. It is easy to whine and complain about the critics and judgements we face everyday. But the biggest critic in your life lives between your two ears. There might have been conditions, where people knowingly or unknowingly had you judged or deemed. It is upon you how you take their views. You may either dive into the plethora of your intrusive thoughts or you may safely ignore the spiteful remarks and move ahead with optimism. While this year may have doomed us with negativity and bleak thoughts, it was not all bad. Some way or the other, we all did learn the importance of love, compassion and empathy.
Source – https://pixabay.com/
“It happens only once in a year, i.e. on new year’s eve that the hopeless may be romantics and the resolution may become a revelation. And when one night can change everything!”
I am a twenty-something hysterical wreck who believes abstract nouns to be the greatest gifts. For instance, if I say I want happiness tied in a ribbon, do not mock it off saying, ‘Oh! But you are happy!’. As I have spent my living existence believing happiness is a corrugated box with a ‘FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CARE’ tag placed on a shelf so high, that my clumsy hands can never reach it anyway. While, I do not want to be insensitive towards the challenges of this year, I wish people around me and everywhere understood the power of words and the narratives framed by them.
A last Goodbye!
Source – https://www.pexels.com/
So as the ball drops tonight, let us remind ourselves to be nice to one another, kind to each other and not just tonight but all year long. And before we pop the champagne and celebrate the new year, stop and reflect on the year that has gone by. Recall both your triumphs and your missteps, your promises made and broken. Recall the times you opened yourselves up to great adventures or closed yourselves down for fear of getting hurt. Because that is what new year’s eve all about, getting another chance, a chance to forgive and move ahead. An opportunity to do better, to give more, to love more, and to stop agonizing about the what if and start embracing what will be!
As we end a year filled with challenges for people all around the world, reflect, reset, and reprioritize what matters you most. 2021 will be different only if you choose to live life by your choice!
