Dear readers: As we approach the end of another year, I wanted to drop by and share my thoughts with you and for this year I’d like to use some words of wisdom that were sent to me by a very special lady; Denise Sanders and she did this when I was president of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians.
Here goes:
“In every journey there is meaning.
In every conflict, there is growth.
In every action, there is purpose.
In every moment of doubt,
Remember to believe!”
Very strong words sent to me by a very powerful lady and these are ones that I shall treasure always.
I don’t think that words will ever be able to truly describe this past year. Suffice it to say that it was one that brought us so much pain! So much suffering! So much unexpectedness and uncertainty! So much of everything that the world was not really expecting or prepared for and as we get ready to usher in a new year; I am very sure that almost all of us will be simply relieved to say so long to 2020 and with the dawning of a new year we can only fill our hearts and souls with hope that the vaccines will be the number one solution for crushing this pandemic.
For me personally, 2020 was a year never to forget. I witnessed so many different strands of circumstances! Anything from tremendous instances of kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness to best to forget moments of selfishness, self centeredness, spoiled attitudes, and a total lack of consideration for those struggling and in dire need.
I was simply moved by those who took the time to reach out to others. By those who used their immense talents to bring smiles and laughter to our seniors living in long term care homes. To the kids and young adults who used their creativity and expanded their imaginations to develop initiatives and ways to let us know that they understood the seriousness of our worldwide predicaments and that they were prepared to do their part to ensure that we remained safe.
I was simply overwhelmed by those who went out of their way to ensure that the less fortunate had enough to eat and that their personal needs were taken care of. By those who continued to think outside the box to try and improve and enhance living conditions and to develop innovative initiatives for those who needed assistance.
On the other hand, my heart simply broke when I saw those who chose to deliberately display unpleasant actions of selfishness, self centeredness, and attitudes of being nothing but spoiled brats. Those who kept reiterating that it was their right not to wear a mask instead of saying that because we were all in this together, we would need to replace selfishness with selflessness.
We need to remember that those never to forget World War II soldiers who did not consider their rights when they were asked to go to battle to save the world! They did it because they knew that if they did not the World would be destroyed. They gave up their lives, their freedom, their future and so much more in order to ensure that our future would be saved. They never asked why! They only said where, how, and when.
This is what I call true selflessness! True commitment and dedication to ensuring that future generations would live to enjoy a future that they knew they could or would never be a part of because in order to ensure any sort of future they would have to surrender their young lives!
Yes, we are asking each other to sacrifice much but I do not think that we have any choice in the matter! So many lives have already been lost and will continue to be lost until the vaccines are able to take control of the Pandemic. So many have already given up their lives to save others and this continues. We are not asking you to give up your lives! We are only asking you to help save lives yours included!
So please! before we say that it is our right not to wear a mask, let’s take a second to think of others. Let’s all stand together to save not just ourselves but also each other! We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the hundreds of thousands of front line workers who continue to work feverishly to keep us healthy! To save us from the strangle hold of the pandemic! To bring medications and food to us! To those who continue to go way beyond and above the call of duty!
Too many lives have already been lost! Too many hearts have already been broken and too many tears have already been shed! Please! Let’s make it our new year’s resolution to reverse these trends and let’s show that we can work together to leave this world a better place for tomorrow’s generation. It is probably the best gift that we can give to each other for 2020!
Just my two cents for today!