Just two more days to go and we will say goodbye to 2020. It has indeed been a difficult year.  2020 will go down in the history books as the year of a worldwide major pandemic, one that caused the deaths of many people. Many families were disrupted, unable to see their loved ones for almost a year. Many businesses closed, never to reopen. Economic conditions for many people have been dire. Food lines were longer, and more people than ever before struggled with poverty.

Yes, 2020 has been a very difficult year. But as I write this, I am aware that we still have much for which to be grateful, especially life. For we should not forget that some we love did not survive this year, and not just from COVID. If we are able to lament the conditions of 2020, we are alive, and have hope for things to improve, while we greive the loss of those who are no longer with us.  

With two vaccines being dispensed in the U.S., hope is on the horizon. Predictions are that by mid 2021, many of our current conditions will be greatly improved. While we may have social distancing and masks around well into the new year, gradually our lives will be able to return to a (new) normal. It remains to be seen what we will want to keep from this COVID time, while we gladly shed many of its restrictions.

The end of a year and the beginning of a new one has some people reviewing their progress in the year ending and planning for the new year. While doing so this year with so many unknowns still with us is more difficult, it is still a worthy endeavor.

Reviewing my blog from this time last year, I have some successes that I can celebrate. A year later, I am still a non-drinker. I have not just kept my weight off that I had lost, but I have lost even more, now at a weight that I plan to sustain. I have had success with these two commitments in spite of this year’s challenges. I am not prideful about these successes, just grateful.  

Managing my money better in 2020 was also one of my commitments, one with which I did not have as much success. I did have some improvement in this area, but not as much as I planned. COVID gets some of the credit/blame, but my spending habits are really the culprit. I once again plan to improve in this area in 2021.

How has 2020 been for you? If you made some resolutions, in reviewing them, how have you fared? Are you proud of your progress, or did you fail to keep your promises to yourself? Other than the obvious, the pandemic and many overall challenges, what reasons do you have for your progress, or lack of it?

Where do you want your life to be this time next year? It is time to make those decisions and put in motion actions that will help you to be successful. Time is to be treasured, and a year is a long time in one regard, and a short time in another. Once gone, we can no longer recover what that time could have been for us.

Would you not love to have even a few more minutes with your loved ones who are not able to welcome a new year? Sadly, that is not possible; that time is gone. It is possible, however, to spend time with yourself, grateful for the ability to say goodbye to a difficult year, and hello to (hopefully) a year full of promise. Do we not owe that to those we love, both those who have passed and those who are still with us? Time, and life, are to be treasured.

Happy New Year! May 2021 be all that you want it to be.