“Odd-numbered years are evil!” At least that has been my personal superstition for over a decade, until this year. I do not know when my fallible belief started, but I believe it may have started in 2007. Looking back, it seems as though everything that has left a scar on my psyche happened in a year that ended with an odd number. Since then, I have always dreaded every other year beginning.
At the stroke of midnight that ushered in 2020, I was an emotional mess. I rang in the new year sitting alone on my friend’s couch clutching my new puppy Pixel while subsequently bawling my eyes out. Tears were flowing out of me with a vengeance because they had been damned up for far too long.
Everyone else was outside celebrating with fireworks but not me. I was a helpless puddle of emotion. 2019 went on the record as being one of the most traumatic of my life for several reasons. Both of my parents had been hospitalized and on ventilators at different stages in the year. Along with someone murdering my dog, and we had to move to a new home. It had been stressful, and when the ball dropped in New York, the floodgates opened in my soul, and all of the emotions I had bottled up for so long burst forth. My soul had been waiting for the catalyst to set me free because 2020 was going to be MY YEAR!
So we all thought, right?
But nooooooooo fate had other ideas for me as well as the world! Ugh, COVID-19 has been something I would never have expected, and thus it also broke my superstition.
I will not say that it has been the worst year of my life because three others outrank it on my blacklist, but it has not been without its challenges. I will say that I assumed that with the outbreak of COVID, I did believe I would have more time on my hands.
This year ended up being busier in ways I would never have assumed, and it flew by faster than I thought possible. When the United States shut down in early March, I thought the year was going to drag on like a snail trying to move out of my way.
I’m sure everyone reading this feels the same way, though.
The two things that I learned from this year have been that my business can survive through a storm and that you can adjust to anything. 2020 also showed me how much time I had been missing with my family. I am grateful for the extra time given to me, especially with my children and husband.
Even though the New Year ends in an odd number, I am not going to dread it for the sake of old superstitions. However, I am not going to make declarations of my intentions or even entertain the idea of resolutions.
Instead, I choose to let the events of the past years go and just embrace the new things coming my way.
Keeping it Simple!
I suppose I have picked up a new superstition because every time I find my mind traveling down the road of, “I AM GOING TO DO…” I reign that horse before she takes off in a gallop. Although I adore the excitement from new ideas, I have learned to be a bit more patient.
I wish I had some tidbit of wisdom or guidance to share with you for 2021, but I don’t.
All I can share are the lessons I have learned, and they have taught me to just live. Life isn’t about planning. It is simply about living.
So 2021, come on, I am going to embrace you.
Special thank you to my model Anna Sorrells
