There Is No Reset: Carry On

It’s traditional for many of us to view each year as compartmentalized within the span of time between January 1st and December 31st. What happens in between those two dates is typically viewed as either “a great year”, “a horrible year” or simply “a year to remember” that was probably a mixture of the other two.

For most people, 2020 will fall into the “horrible” column for reasons of coronavirus as well as social and political turbulence. Throughout this month, the phrase “out with 2020 and in with 2021” is a cry for sanity and relief, even more so than usual and it’s no doubt that Covid-19 plays a large part in that overall sentiment. The problem with this sort of calendar-page borne thinking is that time can be managed, to a point, via organizers, watches and clocks, but it really doesn’t give a shit about any of those things. Time is a mobius strip, continuous, twisted and infinite. We can trick ourselves into thinking that we’ve earned a do-over on each New Year’s Day, but marking time is just a way of passing time with some semblance of control.

The ongoing pandemic isn’t going to suddenly disappear into the ether moments after the ball drops shortly before midnight on the 31st. Roughly nine months into our collective relationship with the novel coronavirus, we’re still in the “getting to know you phase.” If anything, the flipping of another calendar page is just a fleetingly brief intermission before the sequel to this hyper-realistic movie begins to project onto the earth. Call it “Coronavirus 2: Electric Boogaloo.”

I’m not being downbeat, really. Yes, 2020 was difficult in many increasingly different ways, but it wasn’t all terrible. I can think of many bright spots throughout a year that has largely been defined as “the worst.” Thing is, with 2021 launching as we’re still in the midst of an ever-spiraling-out-of-control virus, there stands a good chance that people will begin to view the new year as just as crappy as the old one. Without any time for recovery or the chance to realize success stemming from new resolutions made, are we setting ourselves up for failure right from the get-go?

If 2020 taught me anything, it’s that adaptation is truly the key to survival in this new day and age. Thinking on your feet (or in your seat) can be tough when you’re used to just going with the flow. Roadblocks and barriers will position themselves before you at the most inopportune moments and your reaction time will determine how well you do in each instance. Forewarned is forearmed.

Yes, we have a vaccine, and also a mutating strain of the coronavirus. Yes, we have a new incoming presidential administration, and also a widely divided United States. As much as we’d all like to breathe a huge sigh of relief this coming Friday, now’s not the time to let down your guard and abandon your plans to overcome.

Instead, take a deep breath, steel yourself for the next round of time, and don’t watch for a tidy segue or ending chapter. This is a marathon that we run on a daily basis. Pace yourselves. Take breaks. Think differently. Be prepared for anything and reconsider your motivations for everything. Our routines all got a wake-up call in 2020 and 24 hours between the “worst year ever” and the promise of a fresh, new calendar is not enough time to put the brakes on this hurtling behemoth of circumstance.

So, if a spartan page won’t change our perception of the past, present or future, then it’s our minds that must make the change instead. I’m advocating for finding peace, and adapting to the plot twists, for each moment in 2021. Be aware, be informed, be creative in your solutions but, most of all, be ready. Prepare as best you can, don’t lose hope and keep plugging.

We’ll all cross the finish line at some point. Hopefully, under our own power. If not, that’s okay, too.

For what it’s worth, I hope you can make peace with 2020, thank it for its lessons, and also greet 2021 with a strong salutation and a determined gaze. Be well, be safe and be encouraged as we continue to carry onward to our collective and individual destinies.