We are officially one year into the pandemic, and our lives have inevitably been changed in one way or another, and many of our expectations for what this year could have been were completely derailed. When we approach the one-year anniversary of anything significant, it is almost always cause for reflection. It is hard to believe that a year has gone by – for many people, it has simultaneously felt quick but also endless. This past year has been disorienting in many ways, and it has caused us to reflect on ourselves, our lives, and our priorities. Some of us have maybe lost loved ones; others have lost their jobs or lost friendships or have maybe even found themselves lost in this world and questioning everything. However, not everything has been negative and it is not a large leap to say that out of every difficult year, there are also hundreds of positive things that have also occurred if we just have the vision and courage to look for them. Some of us may have come to realize how strong and resilient we truly are. Some of us may have also realized what is truly important to us in life whether that be our friends, our families, our time to ourselves, our hobbies, our passions, or whatever else may be relevant to you. We should learn to make more space in our hearts for the moments of joy and not let the negative take up too much space and edge out the positivity that we all have within us.
There is a quote that says that every difficult past leads to a beautiful destination. However, I’d also like to add that along the difficult path itself, there is also plenty of beauty to be found. When we are going through a hard time, it is always something as simple as a kind word from a friend or a loved one, or a moment of peace and meditation with a cup of our favorite beverage, or an unexpected, hearty laugh while watching a good show, that has the ability to fill our hearts again. We grow stronger throughout the difficulties and while our hearts may feel heavy, there are always little moments of joy and moments of hope that keep us moving forward. A year into the pandemic, that may be much easier said than done. Lots of people are hitting a “pandemic wall” and feel stuck, anxious, or fatigued. Some of us may have felt overworked throughout the pandemic depending on our situation, while others may have found themselves with an excessive amount of spare time that they do not know how to deal with or how to fill. Both of these situations and any situation in between may easily lead a person to feel a sort of existential crisis as it gets harder and harder to imagine a sense of complete normality anytime soon. While our normality has changed, that does not mean that life cannot be beautiful again in serendipitous, unexpected ways.
The best thing to do is to find the meaning of all of this in our own contexts and in our own lives while also letting go of expectations. We cannot let a negative situation take away the purpose in our lives, but rather we should find ways to add purpose to our lives. We all have the potential to be agents of positivity in our own lives and in the lives of others, and no negative or difficult situation should take away from that. Throughout this pandemic year, we have learned that things will not always go as we planned and our expectations can be easily shattered in the blink of an eye. This is why we must reinforce the idea of loving without expectations and that applies to ourselves and to those around us. It is precisely in these moments where the greatest thing we can do is care for another and find purpose and joy in the everyday.
