Read the January issue online: January 2021 Ezine

Happy Together

The word Happy in this New Year’s greeting has a lot of work ahead. It’s been a rough 10 months, and coming into 2021 we need a good dose of happiness. With the vaccines being administered to our front-line workers and those in nursing homes, hope is on the way. My mother will be getting her shot soon; she’s 91 years old and still in good health, thankfully. I hope we come out unscathed; it would be a blessing. And I hope the same for all of you.

We still have a long way to go before we can let our guard down. We must remain vigilant with our safety measures, so when our number is called we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get that injection of protection. Until then, what will your resolutions be? I’ve already started working on my usual ones—lose weight, work out more and eat better—but rather than settling on the same old same old, I’ve compiled a list of what I won’t take for granted anymore: time with friends, tipping wait staff, supporting small businesses, a roof over my head, grocery shopping, getting my hair cut, traveling, large family gatherings, hugging, shaking hands, watching our youngest play tennis, watching our oldest play baseball, and having unrushed, unscheduled quality time together as a family.

How can we appreciate life as we knew it once it’s life as we know it again? At some point in the future, I won’t put much thought into walking into a building unmasked, touching doorknobs in a public place, walking past people in store aisles, and making an indoor dining reservation. But living through a global pandemic—and knowing that such a thing could occur again—has opened my eyes to the fragility of this planet and the people in it. Each new day is a blessing, every deep breath I take makes me appreciate my body more, flaws and all.

A lot is riding on this new year. If it’s going to be happy, it has to be a collective, worldwide effort. We all need to come together for the greater good. We’ve been through the war, we’re still in the trenches, but the opposition is starting to retreat and we can see freedom in the distance. We can do this. We are all the children of a higher power, and we need to prove to ourselves that we can recover from the fight. 

May 2021 bring you peace and hope.

Cyrece

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