2020. How does one write an article as we end what is going down possibly as the worst years most of us have experienced? Since March of 2020, we have been in a battle with COVID-19. We have been asked to stay at home, wear a mask, and social distance. Life has been interrupted for all of us. Things that we love such as traveling, going to the movies, out with our friends to our favorite restaurants, and so on and so on just didn’t happen. We are tired. We are sad. We are frustrated. We are angry.
All of us have heard the phrase, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Many say this phrase is traced back to speaker and author Dale Carnegie. He is the author of books: How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade; is a proverbial expression used to inspire optimism and a positive can-do attitude in the face of difficulty or misfortune. Lemons suggest sourness or trouble in life; making lemonade is turning them into something positive or desirable.” Source: theidioms.com
To say that most of us received lemon upon lemon during the year 2020 is probably the most accurate way to describe how many of us are feeling at the end of the year. Many of us do not have the “inspired optimism” that this phrase encourages. We have all experienced the sourness of life.
Normally at the end of each year most of us begin to be reflective on the “year that was”. We are used to seeing reviews of top ten favorite movies, books, TV shows, sporting events, and news events. This year it might be hard to do this, because to be honest most of us are unable to string together a top ten list of anything, that is how much our lives have been interrupted over the past 9 months. But you know what? There has been a good deal of lemonade that has been created in each and every single person’s lives.
So why not make your own top ten list as you close the end of the year. The top ten most important people you haven’t been able to see in person, but when you do you will hold them and not let go? Maybe even write those people a Christmas card to tell them how you are feeling about them? How about a top ten list of the most inspiring health care workers you know personally or have seen on the news? Drop those people a note of appreciation. How about the top ten single best things you were able to create in the kitchen during this pandemic? How about the top ten shows you have binged on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ or Hulu? (If you have not watched the Queen’s Gambit on Netflix you should). What about the top ten best songs you have heard over the past nine months (I have really fallen in love with my 80’s on 8 Sirius/XM satellite radio)? How about the top ten best places you have taken a walk, gone for a ride or even a run these past nine months? (You need to promise yourself not to forget these amazingly beautiful places). Do you have a top ten zoom call experiences? As much as many of us hate the idea of virtual school, work, or even social gatherings, just think of how isolated we would be without them? The list could go on and on, if we take the time to reflect, we will truly see all the blessings that we have been given throughout not only the year 2020, but all of our years prior.
There is so much to be grateful for as we come to the end of the year 2020. Yes, we all have been served a bunch of lemons, but look at the wonderful lemonade that each and every one of us has created. To be optimistic is not to bury one’s head in the sand, it is the ability to see that the glass is truly half full, and this year half full of wonderful, tasty, sweet lemonade!
I wish you all a blessed and Merry Christmas and a wonderful Happy New Year!
— Joe Peters is the principal at St. Victor School in Monroe. He can be reached at joepeters@stvictormonroe.org.
