Where did the past two years go? At times, it seems that 2020, 2021 and now 2022 are just melted together and repeating history, almost becoming as one year. One of the main things we will always remember about 2020 was the great loss of life, not only in our country but globally. An unknown frightening virus that took over the world and claimed so many lives – young and old, people from cities and from rural areas and even in remote parts of the world. Sadly and most certainly, it will be remembered as “the year of loss.” In 2021, we began a new year still existing in a frightening place but with some hope. Lives would still be lost but many would also survive. Now, just a few months into 2022, we are still on that battlefield but with less fear and perhaps more hope for a brighter future.
Has our world changed? Without a doubt, but is it all considered loss? Perhaps not. We have endured, we have overcome, we have found new ways to accomplish things, new ways to be successful, new ways to live our daily lives. We work remotely, we visit the doctor by Tel-Med, we conduct business meetings and job interviews online. Is it a better way for us to live? I’d say the jury is still out on that one but the fact is we acclimated and we made it work.
For some, it meant time at home with family, interest in families having meals together returned. Many mothers received calls from their young professional children as restaurants cut back hours, “Mom how do you cook?” Grandparents called their young grandchildren and asked for help to set-up an email or social media so they could stay connected to loved ones. For some, working from home allowed a bit more time not commuting and a window opened allowing them to get online and take some classes.
As our lives improved, many of the things we had taken for granted in the past became possible again. Recalling the loss of our ordinary lives made the “reconnecting” simply glorious. We could meet a friend for a cup of coffee and it became a really special event. Meeting our work family face to face seemed to be a family reunion. Simply put, the loss of our everyday habits and things we did were painful but regaining them even if in a different way became a gift. Perhaps, we may never look at our everyday activities the same way, life has changed.
The loss of life during this time will never be ok and we will always grieve for the ones we lost. As we move forward, however, I hope we maintain some of the things that we found during these past few years. Among the loss, we also found some amazing things. We found we are stronger than we think, more adaptable than we might have expected, more creative at finding solutions. We found more balance and yet we were still able to accomplish our goals. So, during this season of change, I hope we all found a bit of ourselves and I believe if we did, it will serve us well.
