Persevere, is the word which resonates as we move into another year after a tumultuous couple of years with covid19 pandemic upending our lives.
As we’ve endured the effects of the covid19 pandemic collectively for the last two years, its hard to fathom we are not yet fully out of the woods. We embarked into 2021, with hope, as vaccines were being developed, and with better prospects of return to a semi-normal way of life as we knew it, before covid19. Immense gratitude to the many individuals and institutions who worked tirelessly so a large number of people around the globe could get the protection from this virus in a short span of an year, a remarkable feat at scale. However, 2021 was still a roller coaster of an year for many.
For me, 2021 was challenging on multiple fronts, to say the least. New disruptions and uncertainty took over, professional life marred by uncertainty in workplace with business/corporate decisions of sale and acquisition, and on the personal front, sudden injury of close family overseas. Climax for me was the logistical nightmare and somewhat scary travel to India at the height of the delta variant covid19 surge in 2021 to take care of my mom who had a sudden injury leading to a major surgery. For the previous year and half it had been a mix of lockdowns and travel restrictions that stressed many of us, who had loved ones far away.
Having gone through 2021 with barely keeping up with curve balls life was throwing, seeing the horror unfold in real time in India as the coronavirus was wiping away people en-mass, there were times when hope seemed very bleak. However, with each day, one foot forward at a time, and supported by kindness of fellow human beings, the year went on. I was extremely grateful to be there for my parents when they needed help the most, and looking back on those months, has given me sense of new founded resilience.
Despite the isolation covid19 had imposed, the collective enduring of the consequences through last two years has also forged a sense of connection with other humans in subtle ways. As we’ve stepped into another year into 2022, and with the Omicron variant now ravaging like a disturbed dormant serpent lashing out with its great hood, the covid19 virus and its variants are revealing how relentless they are.
While vaccines have helped enormously with protection against serious aftermaths if infected by the virus, health and societal impacts of the virus are still rampant. Supply chains and markets have not yet returned to to meet demands across the board. We went into 2021 harboring hope, and with some of those hopes manifested, to me, this year echoes – ‘to persevere’.
Time and again we’ve seen this embodied in Nature, life persists and perseveres against odds. It is challenging and difficult, but sometimes perseverance is the only way forward. This is a scene I was captivated with, as we drove through miles of burnt trees in the Sawtooth National Forest area in Idaho this past summer. Temperatures in July were unusually warm for this part of the country. The carpet of budding flora in the charred landscape was kind of a re-assurance, of perseverance of Nature.
Another example of relentless perseverance I’ve seen over many years are squirrels trying to get food from bird feeders. The problem is not that they compete with the birds for the feed, but end up breaking the feeders and deter the smaller birds from getting to the feeders. There are many versions of bird feeders which have flooded the market equipped to be ‘squirrel proof‘. However, these tenacious creatures persevere, rain or shine, they never give up, almost on a mission, and ultimately do get what they are looking for.
As we look ahead, put our best foot forward and persevere, hope this year brings more well being, joy and peace globally !!
Happy New Year !!