Dec 5, 2020
2020 — a Year to Remember and a Year to Forget
The past is where you learned the lesson, the future is where you apply it, said a wise person.
As we prepare to bid goodbye to 2020, we can look back at the lessons it taught us. All were hard, some forgettable but many to be remembered and learned from.
And learn we must, because all those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
2020: The Great Leveller
The year the whole world was sailing in the same boat.
A year that one tiny virus held the entire universe to ransom and brought mighty nations to their knees. So much so that even highly developed countries looked to the developing ones, like India, for guidance and support.
Lesson learned: Size does not matter.
The Year in Which Policymakers Were Caught Napping
The world chose to disregard a virus that started in a tiny unknown Asian city. The alarm bells were ringing, but no one paid attention. The virus travelled around the world before it woke up, and the consequences are there for us to see.
Lesson learned: You don’t need a nuclear bomb to destroy the world. A virus can do it much better.
The Year in Which Health, Rather Than Wealth, Was Sought After
Something unique about this year was that everyone across the world was simultaneously praying to be negative rather than positive. Being healthy was suddenly everyone’s priority. No amount of wealth could save you from the virus.
Lesson learned: Health is the real wealth.
The Year in Which the Human Spirit Triumphed
After the initial shock of the disease and the worldwide lockdown, we quickly adapted and learned to survive in the new normal. The beginning few weeks were terrible, as if someone had played an awful prank on us. But gradually, we found our way around and accepted the situation. And life went on.
While some of us may have lost an academic year, our jobs, our savings, and even loved ones, there were still a few good things that we learned as a human race
- We need very little to survive
- We must cherish our family and relations
- Classes and meetings can be held online, from anywhere in the world
- Immunity is king
- We have one planet to live on and one body to live in, and to nurture both
Lesson learned: Every cloud has a silver lining.
2021: A Time to Reset
So, as we saw, all is not lost. It never is. There is always something good in every situation. We must take the good out of the last ten months and forget the bad.
It is time to reset our lives and start afresh in the new year.
Will you?
