As we stand at the threshold of the New Year, we seldom brood over the year passing by. Mostly, the only things that one carries forward, from the old to the new, are the New Year resolutions.
I believe that the New Year resolutions are like that warm mist that releases from our mouth on a cold wintery night of the 31st of December, and evaporates right away without leaving any signs whatsoever. Often, resolutions not backed by the science of willpower, fizzle out as quickly as made.
The pandemic year has made many people realise how they had been taking the comforts in life for granted. The suffering and isolation forced by social distancing have taught how important it is to cherish simple joys in life.
However hard-hitting the year may have been right from the start, it also proved one more time that good always triumphs over evil. The year is replete with so many stories of kindness and selflessness. The year is a testimony to the unconquerable human resilience and how the world community united to combat the common enemy called COVID-19.
2020 showed that gratitude is no more a relativistic view of morality. Standing in our balconies and applauding the front-line or essential services workers was not about expressing one-time gratitude but spreading the spirit of optimism, positive feelings, and boosting happiness.
Believe it or not, but gratitude has the power of healing. Studies have shown that practicing
gratitude releases good feeling hormones: Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphins which pump in more energy in the body. Gratitude helps in sleep better, improve focus and attention, manage stress, and heal mental pains. Gratitude indeed turns into what we have into enough.
Corona Virus Disease not only became the first pandemic of the 21st century. It brought the world to a stand-still. The disasters like wildfires, cyclones, and floods in different parts of the world became the double whammy for people already facing the direct brunt of the pandemic like financial loss, loneliness, uncertainty, or the pain of losing a loved one. When asked to describe 2020 in one word, many defined it as lost, relentless, exhausting, chaotic, hellacious, apocalyptic, 404, delete, unstable. The list can go on.
After the period of uncertainty, there is light at the end of the year with the vaccine in sight. Practicing gratitude will expedite the healing. There is no reason that we should not usher in the New Year with lots of positive sprits, deny the pandemic to steal our joy, and celebrate what Girish said in an email to Team On Purpose, “our biggest gain in 2020 – the year we learnt to support each other, through thick and thin”.
Here’s wishing you all a peaceful year-end and time with family.
Written by: Archana Khatri Das