This will likely be a hard one to write. In fact, let me just preface the whole thing by saying: This year was horrid. Strictly speaking, it was a fiasco of drastic proportions. Now that the obvious truth has been acknowledged, I can get going with why this wreck of a year was necessary, why we definitely shouldn’t forget it, and how to proceed with the years to come, leaving the grim shadow of 2020 behind us, but never out of view.
Kindly do yourself a favor and reflect on two things: Firstly, the difference between the person you are now and the person you were right before 2020, and secondly, the difference between the world now and the world a year ago. You probably see two vastly different pictures, one of the past, and one of the present. The present might look better than the past to you or maybe you see it as far worse. Most of us are probably in agreement on the latter. That said, both of these perceptions are valid and understandable. Either way, the changes that the world underwent and the changes that you persevered through to get past this massive bump in the road were undoubtedly necessary. As hard as it is to fathom how life can go from seamless to nearly unbearable in just a matter of moments, it is not for us to understand. Often, suffering happens without rhyme, reason, or warrant, but it never leaves without teaching the recipient something worth remembering. I can’t necessarily tell you what this year taught you personally, but I’m sure it wouldn’t take too much introspection for something to surface. This year was not gentle and it likely won’t let us go back to the same degree of softness we once possessed. 2020 didn’t leave until it taught us how to be ready for the years yet to come. Now, we can greet 2021 with aplomb, remembering that if we were able to conquer 2020, we can surely face any other form of adversity with an unshakable poise. Go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back.
Just because you’ve made it past the beast of 2020 doesn’t mean you should forget encountering it. You might not even be able to forget it even if you wanted to as this year is definitely one for the books. I literally picture textbook companies already breaking ground on material that our generation’s children will read in social studies classes. Eerie. We won’t be able to forget this year. Honestly, you shouldn’t even try. More importantly, you shouldn’t want to try. Are we as a civilization naive enough to think that remnants of pain will immediately leave our system after the perpetrator is no longer present? Why would we even want to forget what we endured? If you went through a time of physical hardship and came out the other end with battle scars, would you want to remove them? Or would you want to show them off? Personally, I would flaunt my badges of fortitude. The same is true with mental tribulations. You should feel proud to have survived through 2020. One day, you’ll be able to tell someone what it was like to live through such a strange, emotionally demanding year. That being said, in order to talk about this year and exhibit proof of your grit, you’ll have to remember going through it.
I know you will do great things in the next year, and I truly believe that the effects of 2020 will push you closer to those noble enterprises. March on with the knowledge that you won’t run away from your demons in 2021, after learning to face them in 2020.