By Beth Ritchie of https://propergrownup.com/
I know it’s been bad, almost biblical at times. I know I’ve found myself blinking in disbelief and wondering what on earth could come next. And each time when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it seemed like it did.
A few weeks ago, in a dark moment, I was considering a 2020 do-over. I mean, how hard would it be to just eradicate this year from the history books and pretend it didn’t happen? We could start on January 1st 2021 as if it was 2020 again. All those in power could come together at midnight on December the 31st and shout “Happy New Year everyone, its 2020! None of last year has counted, we’ve pressed reset and didn’t save our progress. Congratulations, you’re a year younger. Now let’s get it right this time.” I know some people would love that, especially those of us who have lost loved ones or jobs this year. It can’t happen of course, and besides, we don’t want to wipe out the good things that have happened.
Because believe it or not, 2020 hasn’t been all bad. Amidst the darkness there have been chinks of light, many we wouldn’t have experienced if it weren’t for the pandemic. Captain Tom inspired us all by showing that walking slowly is just as good as running a marathon. And how could we forget how “The Clap” went from an unwanted memento from a dodgy sexual encounter to an uplifting weekly experience you shared with your neighbours? And then there were all the myriad ways that people came together to support each other.
But despite this, I keep hearing people say, “is it 2021 yet?” and “can’t we just stop 2020 here?” Social media is flooded with memes bemoaning the atrocities of the year that was supposed to be so good. (Side note, if you’re in the mood to feel extra depressed, try Googling “best things about 2020” and you will be faced with a slew of optimistic articles written in January about how 2020 is going to be amazing. It feels like a lifetime ago).
But come on people, there’s still time. As I write this, we still have more than 100 days left of 2020.
100 days is 2400 hours, more than most people who work full time spend at work in a year. Think about the things you manage to achieve during a year at work and you will start to see that you can still squeeze in accomplishments before 2020 shuffles off. Even if you could find just a few of those hours to do something amazing, interesting or memorable, you’d have a small reason to look back on 2020 with a smile, pride or, maybe not happiness, but at least gladness, that it happened.
It’s not too late to turn this ship around, we don’t HAVE to hit the iceberg. I know sometimes it feels like we already have but let’s at least go down fighting. And if nothing else, Netflix have announced that there WILL be a season 2 of Tiger King. And if that’s not something to be glad about then I don’t know what is.
