A Mantra for 2021
They say the most common phrase in 2020 was, “you are on mute!” If that is true, the most frequently used word was ‘unprecedented’. This was an unprecedented year, an unprecedented pandemic, with unprecedented consequences. It was a difficult year. For some the worst they have experienced, but likely for many, not the worst and in some cases perhaps a pretty good year.
With only hours to go in 2020 many are likely excited for the new year to begin, and to be done with the old year, as if the tick of a clock will change all that has occurred. Somehow, we hope this was all confined to the calendar, that as we tear off the page of December 31 to reveal January 1 our troubles will disappear, and magically we will be in a better place. Intellectually, we all know there is no difference between 11:59 pm and 12:00 am.
We all know magic doesn’t just happen at midnight. For magic to happen we must make it happen. We look at our failures and figure out how to do things differently this time. We push a little harder, think more creatively, and lead with more courage and honor, and humility. To make the magic happen we think more and react less, we love more and respect more, and we listen more. When we do that we overcome more, and that is when the magic happens. As we think about 2021 and what it will bring, perhaps we should think about how we will write the story. But not to think magically, for the magic to happen, we must act magically. The magic is not in the calendar, it is in the mirror. The magic is in each of us. Perhaps the mantra this year should be, “Make the Magic Happen!”
Happy New Year to all, and may it truly be a magical one for you and yours.