The world has been through a lot — COVID-19, the death of George Floyd, remembrance of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, “Black Lives Matter” protests, and many more. After surviving these problems, most people are still willing to give up hope for a better future, a better 2020. Should they?
“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Accepting finite disappointment isn’t as hard as having an infinite amount of hope. 2020 is this world’s finite disappointment — one hardship after another. All we need to do to get through finite disappointment is to continue to hope. However, this is hard, as we are all fighting many mental battles.
Even though some families have it worse than others, no one person in any family can claim that his/her life has returned to normal. That’s because it hasn’t, and we shouldn’t pretend like it has. As much as happiness is important, or being able to experience the “highs” of life, disappointment is equally crucial to a healthy life. Being able to survive the “lows” of life is another step to working towards a “high”.
Many people are waiting for the new year. To them, the new year would be filled with many more opportunities, happiness, etc.. But will it? How will 2021 be different? Well, currently, the world is in need of a vaccine to combat the spread of the virus. However, since developing a vaccine is an extremely lengthy process, it might take a while. People are placing their bets on a vaccine next year. However, underneath those bets, is hope. If we can hope for a cure next year, then why not this year? Why waste the six months we still have this year with no hope?
The year isn’t even done yet, and we want to go to 2021. 2021 could be another year with no guarantee of the change we want to see. For example, right now, the US hasn’t seen November — Thanksgiving. Most people haven’t appreciated being alive amidst COVID-19, current protests, etc.. A year without gratitude is a year wasted. If we want to have a future filled with hope and happiness, then we need to start now and cherish every moment. After all, we are not immortal.
As cliche as it sounds, it is time to start treading slowly into loving, enjoying, and living life as it is right now. If we don’t make the most out of some extra family time, when we get out into the world after this is over, we might miss what we have right now. Let’s experience everything.
Leave no moment behind.