No Returns, No Refunds, No Exchanges!!!
Unlike clothes and other items that can be returned within a limited timeframe for a complete refund, store credit or exchange, the commodity called “Time” cannot be returned. So what do you when you lack absolute control over the ticking of a clock? You simply leverage it and give it your best shot. We were all expecting 2021 to at least begin on a good note, but boy O boy, barely two weeks into the New Year and it already feels like a woman in labor after 9 months of pregnancy.
UK is on another lockdown, there is a new strain of the virus, the US is still grappling with record high numbers of infections and death from COVID 19, and DC is under curfew pending a safe transition of power. Who would have thought that two of the world’s most powerful nations would be brought to their knees at such a crucial time?
So we ask ourselves this self-defining question; to love or to hate, to hope or to despair, to fight or to run? Since we can’t return the year, what do we do? Hatred is such a powerful force, but so is love. When people express their rage and utter disappointment at the behavior of some of our top officials, I side with them. When that rage shifts to hatred, I disagree with them. When we begin to hate the people that hate us, we become just like them.
Advocacy, meaningful protests, dialogue, and overturning of archaic/discriminatory policies are necessary; we must not relent in our pursuit of justice. Nonetheless, we have to be cognizant of the fact that how we fight is as equally important as what we fight for. Wouldn’t it be tragic to get to the end of a fight and realize you are worse off than where you used to be?
If we could return time, I know that in the US, people would race to 2016 and elect a different presidential candidate. They say hindsight is 20/20, and ain’t that the truth!!!! If you ever doubted the significance of a singular leaders impact on the world, let the unfolding events in the States serve as a painful reminder. We all have the potential to influence for good or evil.
I pray that in 2021, we will uphold truth, ignore deception, embrace love and show compassion. Here’s to a lifechanging, history-making and soul-redeeming 2021.
