2020 was about staying alive. Everything else was fluff.
This summed up an email I received from one of my readers. She still has her job but it feels like hell because so many of her friends lost their job. She’s healthy but that feels like crap, too, because she’s lost two family members to COVID.
On the plus side, no one has broken her heart because she’s no longer looking for love. She’s saving money because there’s no reason to buy anything except food and other essentials. And she’s no longer gets disappointed in herself because she’s given up on self-improvement.
To say she feels stressed and anxious would be an understatement. But the struggle against stress and anxiety is not limited to her circumstances. Many people feel the same way.
It suddenly came to me that there is a perfect four-letter word for this moment in time-hope.
The Dark Year Of Our Lord 2020 has revealed that the feeling we most yearn for in life is hope. Without it we have no defense against despair, depression, and burnout. The reason is because hope is about the future, not the crap that’s already raised its ugly head.
Hope requires two things: motivation to achieve your goal, and a strategy to get there. This is why hope is different from optimism, which is…
