Celebrations to Restore Normality
We have all endured the fatigue of the pandemic and just knowing that we are entering into a state of freedom in some ways, will give us all a little spring in our step.
After the year that we have just gone through, it is nice to see things starting to return to a more normal state. It is clear that we have all missed the many things that make our lives what they are. Meetings in person, book clubs, going out to dinner and just hanging out are a part of life that we have all taken for granted prior to 2019.Now, it is truly time to celebrate our lives getting back to being our lives.
There is no question that this pandemic has taught us lessons. There is no question that each of us has learned something about ourselves and that these lessons will stay with us forever. It is also very true that life as we knew it will be gone forever and replaced with a more cautious approach to doing things than we previously knew. That is not necessarily a bad thing it is just a different thing and something that we can all celebrate. Change of any kind is what makes us think differently, see things through eyes that may not have seen this before and to embrace the challenge and reward each change can provide to us. Now it is our time to embrace the change of changing back to a reality of pre pandemic time and how we went about our day to day.
Just knowing that we can read a hard cover version of stories, like this one, in a printed version of a magazine is something to celebrate. Having options to choose based on personal preference is what I miss and seeing the way back coming into view is very exciting for me. Life as we know it will become life as we knew it and that is what will make the times of our life ours again. Normal is a very subjective term and word. It defines what should be based on what was. Going into the latter part of this year, we will or should return to a more comfortable way of living that will be safer from an emotional point of view. We have all endured the fatigue of the pandemic and just knowing that we are entering into a state of freedom in some ways, will give us all a little spring in our step. Time has gone by relatively quickly in hindsight and it seems to be going quickly now. If we look back at this next year, we will see things a bit differently in light of what we learned and how it affected each of us personally.
Working from home and not going out are changes we have all made during this past year. We have had to truly reinvent how we lived and how we communicated and spending holidays on a Zoom call is not a unique experience for many of us. It is truly a time to celebrate the fact that we have survived a true emergency situation, we have done our part to keep everyone safe and that we are now ready to move forward to a summer of sunshine, light and hope. Not all of us have done the right things, this is a part of the challenge, but the celebration for me is that in spite of a lack of understanding from a small group, the collective has moved on and will continue to move on.
The best of life is ahead of us and that is cause for celebration. The time to get back to reading and writing and being creative is also a gift we can all look forward to. Hugging someone will be a real treat for me when it is possible. These life acts are celebrations waiting to happen and we all have the chance to really take advantage of our opportunities to live fully and stop taking things and people in our lives for granted. Celebrate the return to normal. Celebrate you and us and now. The time has come.
Diane Makarowski Life Coach, Columnist, Author, Motivational Speaker
