A Year of Gratitude and Loathing
On the 3rd of December 2019, I was admitted to hospital with pnuemonia. My body was so starved for oxygen, I felt lost walking the 25 feet from my bed to the front door. My sister wisely decided to call an ambulance and even though I could see the flashing lights and new it meant something important, I wasn’t sure WHY the lights were important to me. Ten days later, I was released, still disoriented and six pounds lighter.
Maybe my 2020 got an early start but everyone has felt a similar sense of disorientation. We were all “reeling like a man being mugged in an open field.” as Douglas Adams so aptly described it.
Disasters?
Feel free to pick your most memorable from the list of Environmental, Political, or Biological. Wherever you resided in a Westernized society you were constantly updated with information that would have turned your hair white in prior years.
This bombardment of minute details and idiotic opinions is probably more responsible for the increase in anxiety and depression than the pandemic itself. If ever there was any doubt, this year proved that Social Media is more of an enemy than an ally.
“This year can’t stay forever” – All of humanity
If 2020 was a human
As I publish this on the last day of 2020, despite not knowing what the new year holds, everyone is glad to see the end of this one.
Plenty of things went tragically wrong and there was no shortage of things to hate.
Gratitude
Despite all of this, I’m still grateful. As I told friends and colleagues, “I’m just trying to stay alive”. If you are reading this, then you did the same. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Despite the pandemic, I achieved 65% of my yearly goals. More importantly, I got better at setting and achieving them and hopefully taught others what I’d learnt. Like many other people, I’ve lost family and loved ones but this has caused me to appreciate those that I still have even more. If you have also lost someone, I hope your pain will be short-lived and tempered by fond memories. I also hope that you have gained a better understanding of the fragility of life and the need to laugh and love while you can.
Upcoming Posts
Cultivating Your Garden – Self-Improvement through the metaphor of gardening.
An American Export: Burnout – What to do when you crash and burn
Resilience: You’ve Survived 2020, Now What?
Be warned that these names are subject to change.
If you have any suggestions on posts you’d like to see please leave them in the comment section.
Speak Your Mind