| It was on a beach in St. Lucia where you could find me as I dragged my youngest and I across the finish line of 2020 and into 2021. St. Lucia had always been a place that I put on the back burner for no particular reason at all, except my natural propensity to “save the best for last” perhaps. Given what has been happening in the world this past year, the time seemed right to go. Not that I’m not hopeful for our global future. But as 2020 has taught us, the wealth of our days, literally and figuratively, are not assured. I’m not alone in my cautious optimism nor my gratitude for each new breath and every loved one that makes them worth taking. Plenty of moms and dads, brothers and sisters, friends, and folks of every nationality who rang in the new year alongside me were expressing the same sentiments. Whether they be from Europe, Asia, Africa, the America’s or down under, the unpredictable nature of current conditions is forcing everyone to sieze the day tighter and latch on “emotionally” harder than ever before while allowing the rest of our “being” to remain as malleable, nimble, adaptable and as prepared as possible for just about anything to come. How each of us carries the latter part of that statement out means many things to many people, I assure you. For some, it means a back door, exodus plan from the homes they grew up in all their lives. For others, it means sitting tight and keeping eyes wide-open. For others still, it means fighting for one side or another. And in between, stand those endeavoring to find reasons to bridge the two together, among them the “faith-filled.” The communal thought is that “there is no script for this” and in that “no RIGHT approach” as to the best way to navigate the unknown. Where history leaves off, famed prognosticator Nostradamus picks up in the form of prophesies spelling out one zombie apocalypse, widespread famine due to a monster asteroid hitting the earth, and California plunging into the ocean for good compliments of a very angry earthquake, among other things. If he is even 70% accurate (and some say that that is his streak), how can any of us prepare adequately? Simple. We can’t. Is it any wonder so many merely wish that 2021 be no worse than 2020. I am not one of them, however. “Me?” I refuse to set the bar so low. My plan is to make 2021 my best year ever regarding everything within my control, which includes helping others do the same as much as possible. The rest, I leave in God’s hands and trust that the needed answers will come…not unlike when I knew it was time to visit St. Lucia finally. Hey, it is a system that has gotten me this far. And frankly – given I was writing this post while relaxing on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world at the end of such a crappy year – now’s not the time to question. Convince me otherwise, you will not. Happy New Year, Everyone. I wish you wisdom, health, peace, prosperity, grace, resilience and mental toughness as we walk the unprecedented steps 2021 demands of us together. Never forget that “you are not alone” as the world moves in unison now more than ever before — which has nothing to do with globalism, patriotism, politics nor a particular strain of a virus and everything to do with our own resounding humanness. |