written by Marnix van der Galien
When looking back on a year, you would generally think of the funniest, scariest or most surprising moments. Maybe you would look back on your best trips or your most notable accomplishments. But looking back on this year, memories are shrouded in a thick fog.
This has been an unprecedented year for everyone. Separation, isolation and seclusion are the sad truths which we all have had to deal with. Not being able to visit your youngest family members or being able to say goodbye to the oldest.
Our entire lives are in the grip of a virus that has changed the world for good. The year where we learned that we should not take the little things for granted. A year where we have learned the hard way, how to cope with the disappointment of canceled trips, vacations, birthdays and celebrations.
Small things make a difference
A long year, where we had to motivate ourselves from bed to “home office”. Which has become increasingly difficult as the year passed by with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel. How do you motivate yourself day in day out?
I found that if you make your bed in the morning, you have completed your first task. This sense of completion will give you a sense of pride and will result in motivation to complete another task and then another.
By the end of the day, one task has turned into many tasks completed.
By making the bed in the morning, you will reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If by chance you have a bad day, you will find yourself at a tidy bed in the evening, encouraging you that tomorrow will be better.
And tomorrow will be better. Now that the sun is setting on 2020, with the new year on the horizon, it is even more important to look back to discover both personal successes and failures.
We will have to work on not only ourselves but as a whole. Where we now live in a sequestered society, with individuals hardened by the lack of social interaction. We will be challenged in our daily interactions as we emerge from our isolation. Short fuses and irritation as we have become polarized as a society. We need to relearn how to make connections and live together as a society.
With the vaccine just over the horizon, we will be able to make these connections. We will be able to go out, enjoy life as the thick fog that has shrouded 2020 lifts. We will be able to enjoy the little things, that we now know are important and dear to us. We will be able to visit family, hug our dearest friends, family, without fear. For this I am optimistic. 2021 will be our year.
Cologne Celtics 