141. Sucker-Punched by the Future

The power of believing in the better

This time of year is pretty weird.

I’m not referring to the holiday time of year. I’m also not referring to December in general. What I mean is this specific time - this current last week of December of this particular 2021 year. It’s pretty weird.

Normally, at this time of year, we reflect on the seemingly glacial personal growth we’ve experienced over the past year as we hope for immense improvements over the next. We proactively plan the path we want to travel knowing, for many of us, the plans will disintegrate before we even raise a green beer to St Patrick - the patron saint of misplaced resolutions.

We repeat this process year over year.

But, as I said, this year seems different.

We’ve spent the better part of 20 months with our “normal normal” turned upside down. We are not yet ready to call this life the “new normal” because how in the bloody hell could this type of existence possibly be normalized?!

After all this time we’ve had living outside of our comfort zone, it still feels like it’s outside of our comfort zone.

Just when we think things are calming down again….BOOM! - another COVID wave.
BAM! - the Delta lockdown.
KaPOW! - Omicron-omania.

The Predictable Past is Past

The predictability from our past has become a thing of our past.

Over the past two years, my (high-risk) mother had planned three trips to visit us in California from her home in Florida. All three times she’s had to cancel at the last minute due to sudden surges of COVID.

The future is hard to predict in normal times. But now... Oy vey. Don’t get me started. (But wait, I’ve already started. So I suppose I’ll just continue.)

It’s not that we can’t plan our own realistic goals for us to achieve in the coming years. We still can do that planning. I mean, it’s not that we no longer have a basic sense for the course of our own futures. We still do have that sense.

It’s just that the world is now bringing more sudden surprises more frequently than we are used to happening. As we are casually walking down our own proverbial personal paths of life, we turn a blind corner and - BLAMO! - we get sucker-punched by the future with yet another goal-crushing surprise.

Every time we gain momentum, we get lambasted and laid on our butts.

However, in the immortal words of the great pugilist, Rocky Balboa:

It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

If there’s anything we’ve been taught through this reoccurring ordeal of the past two years, it’s that Balboa attitude. No matter how surprising and deflating the world may appear at times, we keep moving ahead, marching fervently forward toward a brighter vision of the future.

As we talk here on the cusp of a new year, it is this hope that I hope for all of us. Put our heads down, square our shoulders and barrel towards our goals.

Without obstacles in our way, there would be no opportunity to prove our fortitude. Push through the obstacles and stay focused on becoming the best you that you can possibly be.

The next year is going to be a great one. We know this, because the power to do so is within us all. So when the future swings for it’s sucker-punch, don’t forget to duck, then fight back.

Here’s to an awesome 2022 and beyond.