Two down, 10 more months to go. Sometimes, it feels like time doesn’t wait. We grab onto seconds hoping they’ll last longer and try to make memories we’ll never forget. But most days, it’s like running water, slipping through fingers and all that’s left is the present, and the nagging idea that you’ve wasted yesterday, and now it is past.
The month of January is always like that. We go into it thinking, “Hey, this is finally my year!” with carefully thought-out resolutions, and sometimes unrealistic goals, only to discard them when something doesn’t go our way. And most of the time, life rarely ever goes as we planned.
It seems like 2020 was just yesterday. It’s hard to believe that only two years ago, we were very different people. Loss, isolation and worry are emotions etched into every one of us, and they have shaped us into who we are today, for better or worse.
The summer at the start of the pandemic was gone in a flash, as if you only blinked, and then poof, you’re suddenly watching fireworks from the window as 2021 rolls in, and not long after, 2022. Babies were born, kids grew taller, students graduated and the world kept on changing, leaving us wondering where all that time went. In short, the coming days feel distant until we’re staring at them right in the face.
Small and safe
When I was younger, I used to look to the future as something for my future self to deal with. Growing up in a small town, there weren’t really that many options for me. The same faces around every corner, the same places to get snacks every afternoon.
An established routine and the sense of familiarity that came with it, the idea that things would always be the same, brought me comfort for most of my life. I simply wanted to breeze through the remaining years of elementary and high school, go to college, get a degree in whatever course I saw fit and see whatever life had left in store. My world was small, and safe. And I liked it that way.
My family used to tease me for my lack of flexibility when it came to schedule, and rightfully so. I would get irritated at the smallest change in plan, and I hated ever being late or absent when it wasn’t on the agenda.
Right now, for example, I’m two years closer to entering senior high school. I’ve already planned out the university I’m attending, the strand I’m going to be in, the Advanced Placement classes I’m going to take, and even the course I’ll choose in college, which my people find surprising when I bring up excessively, especially considering the fact that I’m only four months shy of my 14th birthday.
It comes as no surprise when I tell them I’ve always been one for planning. I use organizational apps like Notion to keep track of everything in my life—from books to extracurriculars to upcoming competitions.
Overwhelming
However, I learned that the world doesn’t turn at the hand of my personal timepiece. Sometimes life is slow and tiring, and for others, it’s zipping by faster than a train.
Schedules most often come into conflict, plans get canceled last minute, and life doesn’t breeze by according to a precise timetable, much less my own.
Nevertheless, no matter how the rest of 2022 goes, and whether my plans and yours become a reality or not, I hope we can still look at every new day through a lens that perceives the positive in every situation, and make the best of what we can in the time we’re given, with the people we’re with, and whatever we have.
Life can be overwhelming, to say the least. Take it in small doses—one day at a time. Whether it’s giving yourself a much-deserved break or rewarding yourself every now and then, we can all take it easy when we need to.
It’s okay to have bad days. It’s okay to feel lonely, exhausted and like life is going on without you. But for as much as it’s worth, remember that just like good times, hard times won’t last forever. Someday, whether it be a day or a year from now, you’ll be in a better place, so pick yourself up and keep going anyways.
Year 2022? Bring it on. —CONTRIBUTED INQ
The author is a student at Homeschool Global.