“Once you choose hope, anything is possible” – Christopher Reeve
It still feels like 2020 started just yesterday, yet it’s been the longest year of our lives. Like the memes say, we had January 2020, a pandemic, now we’re right at the beginning of December. And by the looks of it, COVID-19 is here for a little while longer.
Even with 170 candidate vaccine research groups working on a solution, the World Health Organisation predicts that we are not likely to see a vaccine available to the public until mid-2021. Everyone from the President of South Africa to Bill Gates warn that things are going to get worse before they get better, and that even as we approach the festive season, we shouldn’t forget that we’re still in the middle of a crisis.
For sure lockdowns have helped bring the numbers down, but have also had extreme consequences for peoples’ lives and livelihoods. And more than anything, the inequalities that exist within our societies and communities have been glaring.
But I find that hope is what keeps the human spirit going. Hope takes strength and gives strength. We have to have hope that even if we can’t predict what the next year or two will look like, that we still have an opportunity to do great things in the midst of great tragedy and disaster. Rather than look at what isn’t there, what could have been, let’s focus on what we do have at our disposal and work with it. As Barack Obama so eloquently put it: “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”
So as we march on to the end of an unprecedented 2020, let’s not discount some of the blessings and privileges we’ve had and still have. True, it is easier said than done but let’s create hope in these last days of 2020. On our list of blessings is the amazing women in our network. Join us for upliftment, empowerment and encouragement.