I know. The thrill of stepping from 2020 to 2021 is not exactly the expected excitement. Nothing really changed. You still have the same nose, for instance. Most important of all, the plague of 2020, which, to be honest, started in 2019 (it is in the name people!) has not packed and moved to Jupiter to annoy another corner of the universe. But what did change, perhaps, is our spirit.

New Year, new me! Isn’t it how the saying goes? And why not? Instead of a new fitness program, which we all know will only last a couple of weeks, maybe we should make resolutions of resilience, of determination, of heightened responsibility towards our fellow humans, and I dare say most crucial of all, of hope.

Pardon my analogy, but hope is like a cockroach. It is incredibly difficult – almost impossible! – to kill. I am almost certain an atomic bomb would not do the job. So, let us follow its leads and build ourselves armours of hope! Let us take 2021 by its proverbial horns and march forward. Because, despite the sorrow, the misery, the loneliness, the despair, and the boredom, this is NOT the end of life. It cannot be! We were promised combustion by the sun in several billion years and I personally intend to have the universe keep its promise. I am not accepting defeat before that fateful day.

Until then, this blessed year of 2021:

I intend to see my family

I intend to hug long missed friends

I intend to travel at least once

I intend to read at least 60 books

I intend to finish one novel and start another one

I intend to restore my mush-muscles to their former glory

I intend to smile everyday

I intend to laugh as often as possible

I intend to continue to be responsible for my and other’s health

I intend to not let the darkness of depression get the better of me

I intend to be STRONG

I intend to be RESILIENT

I intend to be HOPEFUL

I intend to be HAPPY

So, I raise my glass (it’s tea, really) to a happy new year full of new possibilities!