Hard to believe that 2020 will be over in less than 48 hours. Are you ready for a new year?
I’ve actually spent time resting my brain over the last week. Not thinking too hard, not doing too much (or doing anything at all.) Sleeping a full 8 hours most nights. I actually completed two LinkedIn courses, just for the heck of it. I learned some things!
Next week begins the real work: the setting of goals, the decisions on benchmarks and milestones. The brief reflection on what happened and looking forward to what the consequences will be.
But for now, we are winding down. Taking a breather. Taking stock of that which we have accomplished.
The greatest accomplishment this year is having made it this far.
Yet, the promise of positive change in the new year has me cautiously optimistic. Even in its faltering, vaccinations have begun, and will have to pick up pace in the first quarter of the year if the effort is to be as effective as it needs to be. Our decimated government will begin its rebuilding process, which could take years. It is astonishing that building something takes so much time and painstaking attention, but demolishing it happens overnight (well, almost; the last four years have felt an eternity.)
The good news is also the bad news. We know what needs fixing because the dismantling of our nation lay bare all its ugly warts and its isolationist, fascist, white supremacist tendencies that will take actual effort from all concerned citizens, as well as government, to overcome. Time to gear up for the hard work. It will not be easy. It will not be quick. There will still be people who don’t want everyone to have a fair shot. There will still be people who would prefer to withhold healthcare and education from certain groups of people. What has to happen, though, is those who would profit from this need to be held publicly accountable. The only way that will happen is if the people demand it. And we must.
I had never considered myself political, but I have become keenly interested in the politics that move our country from one side of a pendulum to another. It is fascinating to see how those who “hold the power” make use of others for their own ends. I’ve learned that what is on the surface is most likely not the end-game; it is most likely a distraction or deflection from the actual goal. Watch these guys, they are not playing on the up-and-up. Follow the money, and follow the power play. I won’t breathe a calm breath for quite some time, having seen what apathy has wrought.
Funny how a global pandemic and its consequences have brought so much to the fore. Were we all so “busy” that we didn’t notice what was happening right under our noses? Were we all so caught up in the getting from point A to point B that we just didn’t pick our heads up? Maybe. 2020 taught us a lot, I think. I know my eyes were opened on more than one topic, for sure.
Here’s to healing what ails us in 2021 so we are strong and prosperous in the years that follow.
Happy New Year, folks. Stay safe out there.