"My 2021 Voices" by Connie McNeill

We were certainly ready for January 1, 2021 to come. It was a psychological trick we played on ourselves, of course. On one level, we knew that we could not put behind us the challenges and frustrations that we had been forced to live with in 2020. Nevertheless, we could not keep ourselves from welcoming the new year in which we hoped and prayed would be filled with vaccinations and decreased threats from a vigorously virulent and mutating virus.

We are not quite where we hope and believe that we will be later this year. To help us get there, let me share some thoughts and actions I have gathered along the way to get to our new normal.

Staying positive by listening to the voices of faith and optimism who believe that “better” is possible.

Listening to the voices of gratefulness and blessing as we take a walk around our lives, even if only in our heads, and pause in all those places that we recognize blessings in our lives.

Voices that encourage us to eat and drink in healthier ways.

Even the voices from us, to us, that are more about being honest and encouraging.

There are voices that we can listen to that will encourage us to make a difference, to live our purpose, to love the processes, to trust more, to think of life as “getting to” instead of “having to.”

Listen to the voice that tells you to get more sleep.

Listen to the voices that tell you not to waste money, time, or energy.

Instead, listen to the voices that tell us to love more passionately, live more fully, laugh more heartily, and really enjoy our life.

We are going to get there but what we experience on the way may depend upon which voices we choose to listen to.