Life is about learning and growing, both of which are accomplished through overcoming resistance. Learning requires acquiring knowledge. Growing requires accumulating experiences. As much as pop culture would like for you to believe otherwise, the Calendar year is not solely correlated to the tribulations faced by you or even the world for that matter. The main contributing factor to your assessment of how good, bad, or successful your year has gone is your state of mind.

For me, 2019 was a tougher year than 2020. All things considered, 2020 was probably the best year of my life thus far. Opportunities and doors opened for me that never have previously, both externally and internally. I gained firsthand experience in dealing with real-world misfortune on an unprecedented scale. I strengthened my connection with my inner self. I learned to deeply empathize with those who may be experiencing life in a more strenuous lane than I am. I learned to understand that, no matter the circumstances, someone always has it worse than I do and that I should be grateful and appreciate the blessings that have been bestowed upon me rather than dwell on the things that I am lacking or the things that do not go my way. I also learned that making sound decisions is impossible without having all the pieces to the puzzle. Furthermore, it is the search for those missing puzzle pieces that inspires unparalleled growth within you and me— a direct result of the experiences we accumulate along our quest.

I emerged from the calendar year 2020 as a better man and human-being than I was when I entered it. I did this through consciously being aware of how I perceive the experiences and situations that life hands to me. I did this by not immediately classifying any of these experiences or situations as “good” or “bad,” but rather observing and embracing the life lessons that they were teaching me. What greater wisdom can one pass down to his or her offspring than the importance of learning what something means prior to judging it?

Moral of this post: Yesterday is history. Tomorrow does not exist yet. The year 2021 has all the potential to be exactly like the year 2020 was. Whether it will or won’t depends not on the happenings of the world or anything external. It only depends on the happenings within your mind and how you have trained it to perceive the knowledge it has been presented with, which you have full control over. The year 2020 has presented us all with an abundance of knowledge. Applied knowledge is power. Acquired knowledge is liberation.

Happy New Year.

Q.A.