Don't Wish It Away

2020 has been one hell of a year so far hasn't it!

The one thing I have noticed recently is the number of people who just want to get to 2021. They are counting down the days until the New Year.

Reflect for a moment on this quote:

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." ~ Leo Tolstoy

I know in some ways this quote seems to have it all wrong, there is so much that needs to be fixed and fixed now. There is so much wrong in this world and if we could just move ahead it will all be better. But will it?

First, things will not magically change on January 1st of the new year. The problems we are facing as a society, with this pandemic, with things in life in general, will not disappear. Much of what we are seeing are things that have been around for centuries. They may look a little different, or feel a little different, but they are still the same issues. This is where patience starts to lose. We are tired of being patient, we are tired of waiting for things to get better. What we are missing here is that we all have to be part of the solution. Too many of us are waiting for someone to take the lead, someone to find the cure, someone to make the difference. The truth is, if all of us did something a little different, if we all tried a little bit harder, we could make a bigger difference and chip away at making positive change.

Relate this to losing weight. All you want to do is lose a few pounds, or maybe a lot of pounds. What do you do? You start making small changes. You consume better foods, less food, exercise more. You won't see a change the first day, you may not see any change the first week. You may even see the number go up rather than down. So you adjust, re-balance, refocus. But eventually you will see the number on the scale go down, your clothes loosen up and your overall health improve. The more weight you have to lose, the more time you will need to get to your goal. It doesn't happen overnight, just like gaining those extra pounds didn't happen overnight. After you the lose the weight and get to where you want to be, you can't just stop and go back to your unhealthy habits. No, you have to constantly check yourself, hold yourself accountable to maintain the healthy lifestyle. It is not a once and done activity.

Making things right in the world also doesn't stop with one positive change. Even with progress we have to constantly reevaluate. Is it still working? Did we slip backwards? What else do we need to do to continue to improve? The cycle of being better never ends, and it is our responsibility to keep at it with patience and time.

The other piece of this desire to fast forward is we often forget that we may not even have tomorrow. Wanting to be 150 days in the future is counter productive to living in the present. Sure, the present may suck, it may be hard, it may be exhausting but that my friend, that lack of comfort, is exactly what we need to feel to recognize the need for change. It is how we grow, how we learn, how we gain a different perspective.

When I hit a tough patch I always remind myself that someone always has it worse. Sometimes that is a hard thing to see, but it is reality. So if you have wished we could get to 2021 already, remember there is someone out there who wants nothing more than another day to be with someone, to be a better person, to make things right.

"The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead."

~ Marjorie Pay Hinckley