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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/action/view/entry_id/1001104
Rated: 13+ · Book · Personal · #1921220
My thoughts released; a mind set free
#1001104 added December 31, 2020 at 2:09am
Restrictions: None
Happy New Year? That's Up to You!
It's officially New Year's Eve, 2020 comes to an end, and 2021 begins. Or at least that's what they say...

I'm sure there's a reason, but have you ever stopped and thought about why we end the year at the end of December and start a new one on the first day in January?  Why not end the year on the winter solstice? Or, even better for those of us who live "up north", the summer solstice? If you think about it, we could pick any day we want to say one year ends and another begins. In fact, many companies do not end their year on December 31, nor does the government.

Also, what is up with New Years'? I mean, after the way 2020 turned out, everyone is eager for the new year. However, nothing is actually changing as far as the pandemic and the problems it's created. The vaccines have already come out, they didn't wait for January first. A lot of places are locked down or highly restricted, and we are all still wearing our masks and waiting for something to change, to get better. We pick a set point in time, midnight on December 31 to say, "Go to hell, 2020!" Then we add, "hip hooray, it's 2021 and things will be better."

But, are we setting ourselves up to fall? For me and my family, 2020 was a big deal. We had fostered our two granddaughters and in August, adopted the youngest. It was a tough year, a lot of things to do in 2019 to make that adoption happen. But then, 2018 was going just fine until we found out that we could finally step in and foster our granddaughters. Then, towards years end, we had to quit our jobs, walk away from our lives, and start all over in a new state. We had so much to do and accomplish to get our foster license and get the girls out of the system and into a home.

2019 didn't bring any improvements, just more of the same, but then in August, the youngest was adopted and things were finally falling into place. Then, the adoption was approved for the older granddaughter, but not until the end of January. We were ecstatic! We had finally reached the goal we had started over fifteen months before. Yes, 2020 was going to be a great year. Then the virus arrived. Then the schools shut down, we had stay-at-home orders, the girls, already inflicted with many problems, both emotional and traumatic had a difficult time with everything shutting down. More problems and troubles. Then the riots started and we had troubles all around us.

We lived in an apartment complex that was very diversified. We didn't mind, but some of the other tenants didn't seem to approve of us. As tensions climbed, we had troubles with threats against our dog, we had scratches in our vehicles, and it was beginning to feel unsafe to walk across the parking lot. I don't know why, we mostly kept to ourselves, as did most people, but we were polite and considerate, we got along with all our neighbors, then one day the bottom fell out. I know it wasn't anything directed at us personally, but still, it was time to move.

We fought tooth and nail to keep our adopted daughters, we found a nice location in a rural setting with a good school, we managed to get moved in despite the quarantine and the loss of wages, and we survived. We love our new location, even if the duplex is a bit small for all of us. The girls are happy with the school and eager to be able to attend it until they graduate; they have never gone to the same school for more than one year, and quite often had to switch during the school year. Even the people around us are nice, even though we are new and don't know anyone. Sure, like anyplace, there are problems, but it's one of the better places I've lived.

So 2020 started good, we had our girls adopted. Then it turned bad, the pandemic hit, but as a result, we found a nice place to live and are happy here. The girls were going to school on a hybrid system, so it worked, but then after Thanksgiving, they went to full distance learning until mid-January. But, the girls have friends and they are able to stay in touch; they are eager for school to reopen, as are we the parents. What I'm saying is, 2018 was a good year for us, but it ended with a lot of difficult decisions and problems for us. 2019 was filled with obstacles, oversight, and so much to do and accomplish, 2020 started out as a great year but turned very bad, but then turned good, and then ended with more problems.

What will 2021 bring? A vaccine and hopefully life returning to normal. Maybe, but how long will it take, how much worse will it get before it gets better? Even if everything is better, will our leaders return things to normal, or will they continue to feed upon fear as a means of controlling and feed their power-lust? Will the vaccine work? Will we begin to see problems with the vaccine? There is no way of knowing what will come in the next 365-day cycle. We do know, however, there will be good things, there will be bad things.

Will everything just change for the better tomorrow? No, nothing will have changed, life goes on and the only way to have a good year or a bad year is to make it one or the other. I could say that 2020 was the worst year I have ever had, but it wouldn't be true. It was a difficult year and there was plenty that went wrong. Some of it due to the pandemic, some of it due to behavior problems, some of it due to people in positions of government that are hungry for power and control. So yeah, it was a difficult year, but here I am, writing my blog on New Year's Eve and thinking if it wasn't for all the problems and troubles, where would I be right now? Where would my daughter's be? Would life be better or worse?

This I can honestly say, no matter how screwed up this year has been, our family survived and we are stronger because of it. New Year's marks a beginning on a calendar, but what the year brings is determined by us. No matter if we have good leaders or bad, viruses or health, natural disasters or paradise-like weather, it is what we make of it in our hearts and how we treat our friends, family, neighbors, and even those we do not know. The New Year cannot bring us anything, only we control our destiny and what we make of what we have makes all the difference in the world.

© Copyright 2020 tj ~ endeavors to persevere! (UN: callmetj at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
tj ~ endeavors to persevere! has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/action/view/entry_id/1001104