See You Never . . . 2020
I’ve never been so happy to get a new, hopeful year in my life! It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down to do my blog. It’s been difficult to find uplifting and inspiring reflection. I know that it’s been a rough year for everyone, I’m no different but it sure could have been a lot worse for me. I’m lucky to not have had Covid 19, as well as the rest of my immediate family. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to work from home for my part-time job. Selling a book is the highlight of my week or month now, each one is met with such appreciation. Considering schools were at distance learning for much of the year, it was really hard to get my book in front of others. Schools are now open but I think it’ll be a while before I deem it a safe venture for me.
Isn’t it strange to think of how we used to do things? We touched unclean grocery carts, carrying those germs everywhere with us. We let close relatives blow out their birthday candles and then everyone ate a piece of blown on birthday cake. We sat in doctor’s and hairdresser’s waiting rooms and read the magazines that so many others had touched, coughed on, sneezed into, you get the point. Yuck! We used to celebrate holidays with many friends and relatives all welcome, bringing along all of their germs and bacteria. We attended weddings, graduations, church services, baby showers and dined in restaurants never thinking we could get a potentially fatal virus.
Now, over nine months into this pandemic and there are over 350,000 people gone in the U.S. People that are missed greatly by their loved ones and friends. They’ll never sit at another Thanksgiving dinner, never hold a precious child or grandbaby in their arms again. It’s depressing to think about. So many have lost in this pandemic. They’ve lost family members, lost jobs, lost businesses, lost their homes, lost their employees, lost the experience of in-person school, and the list goes on. Somehow, we need to find a silver lining to come out of all of this loss. I know I’ve found more things to be grateful for during this difficult time. I have a greater appreciation for my church and being able to watch Sunday service on Facebook live. I’m grateful that my son was able to marry his wife in a small, intimate setting. It was disappointing to not be able to invite everyone that they wanted but in the long run they were glad no one got sick because of their wedding. I’m grateful for the many essential workers still getting food to our grocery stores, delivering mail and packages, working in the clinics and hospitals, keeping our nursing homes with our loved ones safe and kept busy, teaching children at a distance, keeping areas clean and sanitized like the janitorial workers, working to keep us safe and bring peace to our cities, states and country. For all of these are things that before March 2020, I hadn’t really thought much about. I certainly wasn’t feeling appreciative so if there is a silver lining, I guess it would be that much gratefulness and appreciation has been created for the smaller things in life. Each and every one of them are working hard to do their very best at their jobs and risking their health by doing it.
As my New Year’s resolution, I have decided to give myself some grace in 2021. It’s ok if I don’t get all of the things on my list done in one day. It’s ok if I’m aching bad to just lie down and rest. It’s ok if I don’t eat all healthy foods, tomorrow is another new day to strive to do better. After all, everything will be ok. We will get back to some kind of “normal” again and hopefully then we will have a bigger appreciation for life and enjoy every minute we have!
Blessings and Love,
Becky