The year foretold to be great

2021 is over. It’s time to end that chapter and move on to a new one. Unfortunately, moving on from 2021 is easier said than done. It is better an idea than a reality; better thought of than worked upon.

Unlike the booming fireworks and crackling firecrackers heard during the midnight of the first of January of the new year, the past year has been a silent and mournful one. Not only for the people we’ve lost, but for dreams crushed, and hopes and courage which ran out because of the pandemic. It was not an easy year. It was challenging. Maybe even excruciating.

This year has been a series of ups and downs – mostly downs for most of us, but who’s counting? Does someone even care? This has been a question bothering my mind for most of the year. We are all struggling in different ways, experiencing different pains, crying different tears, having different anxieties. And oftentimes, we feel like we are not in a position to complain because we all had it bad. But we survived, didn’t we? We did and we’re stronger because of it. We became stronger because life gave us no choice. You are stronger, even when you think you aren’t. Survival of the fittest in action.

2021 started with a worsening pandemic, not a good omen already if you ask me. No firecrackers; and social gatherings were prohibited. No laughter. No noise to shoo away negative energies. Not a good start for a year foretold to be great. This has not been the ideal “this-is-my-year” type because how can you own a year with a merciless and ever-evolving virus killing millions? How can you stay positive when you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel? When the promises of a better future seemed like a lifetime away? When death is abundant and surviving is a burden? These are all heavy questions we want to answer but cannot; not only because it’s hard or impossible, but because this year has been tiring enough. We don’t have enough energy to even answer another question. We refuse to answer. Because maybe, just maybe, it gave us an illusion that we still have a choice in life. We can still say no.

So, to anyone who will read this in the future, I am not exaggerating. 2021 will always be one of, if not the toughest year for most Filipinos. The pandemic imposed online classes. Everyone went back to square one, learning the ropes of online schooling while adapting to the changing times. Businesses went bankrupt. Employees lost their jobs. In addition to the ongoing pandemic, active volcanoes threatened the population near them. Taal’s volcanic ash caused evacuations and respiratory problems to many. Earthquakes happen every day throughout the country, some more powerful than the other, some you cannot even notice. Floods drowned the crops of our barely surviving farmers. Typhoons served as unwanted visitors throughout the year. And as if it cannot get worse, just before Christmas, Typhoon Odette ravaged parts of Mindanao, claiming lives and destroying houses. People spent the holidays without electricity. They were needing help, low in spirits, but remained hopeful. Typhoon Odette left famous tourist spots devastated looking nothing like how it used to be. Just like how 2021 left our lives looking nothing like our pre-pandemic life. Most of all, it left broken hearts and homes. And we can only pray that it stops there. That we all leave behind those series of unfortunate events in 2021.

Thinking and soaking everything which transpired in 2021, I am still in awe of how I managed to survive. It was like walking in a minefield. Not being careful enough could cost your life, and even being careful does not guarantee you safety. The odds are somehow always against you. People you incorporate with could cost your freedom, and quarantine is more dreadful than it sounds. Many even lost their lives, and I swear one could only hear the rising numbers of CoVid casualties, and none of the good news, if there were any.

I guess we could all agree that 2021 has been tough. One who says otherwise are lucky to be in that position. Nevertheless, let us not forget to also appreciate our small and big victories for the past year. First, you are here reading this. Despite everything that happened, you are breathing and welcoming another year. We may have lost loved ones, but we only have peace of mind that they will no longer experience the horrors of this world. We may have had a hard time studying and learning, but we are now a step closer to our dreams. The great dreams we have that the pandemic failed to extinguish. We may have lost employment, but that only gives us another opportunity to find a better one, if not create one. Business may have been bankrupt, but maybe this is only a sign to reassess the game plan and venture to another. Homes may have been wrecked but being in our lowest only means going back up again. We may have lost hope, and changed the way we see the world, but may we discover new ways of cultivating that hope again. We may have cried bitter tears, but I hope we cried enough to only cry happy tears the next. We may have been tired, but we did not give up. We did not kick the bucket, and we’re still persevering. No matter your situation, 2021 has been difficult, but surviving it says a lot about you. You are more than what you think you are. Give credits to whatever you have achieved and bask in that glorious moment. May we regain the sparkles in our eyes, the melody in our laugh, the genuineness in our smiles, the joy inside us, and the strength within ourselves. 2021 may have broken us one way or another, but it is not the end. We will try again, and we will redeem the life we deserve.

Again, moving on from 2021 will be tricky, not only because of the sorrow it brought, but because of all the lessons we learned which we will be bringing with us for the new year. It’s not easy living and moving on having the previous year as a reminder of all the hardships. But let’s start this year slowly. Then gently tell ourselves that we are strong, for we survived 2021, the survival of the fittest in action.