BACK TO SQUARE (TWENTY-TWENTY) ONE

I always find it fascinating when people think that when the New Year is upon us, the world will suddenly be different. That some higher power will descend from the heavens, and with a wave of their hand, all our troubles and setbacks will magically disappear, with the promise that the New Year will bring all that you desire. After the crippling year of 2020, which brought a wave of death and unemployment, I too wished that all of it would disappear on the first day of 2021, but unfortunately, it didn’t.

We have all struggled this year physically and emotionally and hopefully done some soul searching that resulted in making some tough decisions about our current situations and future. We can learn many lessons from this last year, but I will highlight two that resonate with me.

Lesson 1: If you’re reading this, you survived this year; you learned how strong you are and you grew. No matter the stumbling blocks, you’ve adapted and persevered. Don’t take that for granted.

I recall during one of my yoga practices; I learned an unexpected lesson. At the beginning of the class, the instructor told us that at any point during the class, you need a break feel free to move into “child’s pose” (knees spread as wide as your mat, belly resting between your thighs, forehead resting on the floor) and then rejoin the class when you’re ready. During the class, I looked over and saw a man face down on flat on his mat where he lay until right before class had ended. He then eventually sat up, and we all finished the last ten minutes of meditation together.

And so that brings me to lesson two. It’s never too early to regroup, hit the reset button, and enact necessary life changes; why wait for the new year?. When in need of a realignment, humble yourself, be still, be present, listen with an open heart, make those necessary adjustments, and then rejoin the world when you’re ready.

Cheers to a New Year!