HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021

Wow, and as someone else so eloquently put it; “What a 24/7 dumpster fire 2020 was!”  I think all things considered there would not be too many people sad to see the end of 2020.

But here we are, we have survived the first real pandemic of our lifetime (well for those who live in first world countries at any rate).  If you live in Victoria, Australia, like me, you too will have survived toilet paper shortages, food restrictions, lockdowns, working from home, needing permits to leave home, cancelled holidays and not being able to see family and friends, among other things.  Not to mention those people who have lost loved ones to Covid 19.  It certainly has been one hell of a year.

With the arrival of 2021 we have some pretty high expectations, mainly that the vaccines being rolled out will be a signal that life will return to some kind of normal, and we can all get back to doing the things we enjoy.  My thoughts on this are “Wouldn’t it be lovely!”  However… I want to caution everyone to take this whole return to “normal” slowly and carefully.  We can’t rush this, as even the experts concede, that there is still much to learn about this virus and how it works.  The vaccines are not necessarily a one shot problem solver.  There is every chance that we will all need a shot every year, similar to the flu shots we are encouraged to have every winter. At this point no one really knows exactly how this will pan out.

So now we are embracing 2021 and we all hold out great hopes for it, let’s just ease into it slowly.  Take and celebrate each small step we make towards regaining our social freedom.  Much as we celebrate a toddlers attempts to walk – we are just starting to take our first steps out of this and we need to acknowledge our achievements, but also remember just like a toddler learning to walk we cannot expect to be running anytime soon. 

Celebrate the wins and learn from the setbacks, don’t build your hope up too high and if we all look out for each other, and remember we are all in this storm together, we will come through this stronger, and with any luck with a society that has grown and improved from the experience.

 

By Kathrine Carton   B.Coun.

Kcartoncounselling.com.au

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