Lose the shore, embrace the horizon

A crisp new year is here, it’s officially the second year of the second decade of the twenty first century.

It could be the beginning of just another year, as it has always been. People gather just before the stroke of midnight to watch the fireworks and usher in the next year with jubilation right after the countdown. And the year will move on swiftly, like clockwork from there on. With school terms swallowing up the entire school-going age bracket, and demanding jobs welcoming back a reluctant populace that know the rat race and the grind are back on – in another trip around the sun.

The year can wear the same hues as previous ones, and at the end, on 31 st December 2022, it will join the pile of others in a monotonous heap. What makes the difference between what goes down as either significant or nondescript years? It is in the full participation in life – the good, the bad, the ugly, the unexplainable even. The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated families and nations for the last two years, leaving an indelible footprint that will go down in history as one of the worst for humanity. And yet, even in all its devastation, men, women, companies and nations rose up and overcame the threat and its effects. Instead of singing the same woesome tune along with the world, these unique individuals and nations have gone ahead and risen above the chaos, holding up the torch of hope for a global society that was drowning in a worldwide tragedy.

It’s amazing how humanity can rise from the worst of ashes and deepest darkness, to shine the brightest beacon that will be seen down the generations. But this, more often than not, happens when people and nations rise beyond the calamities and catastrophes, lose sight of the shores of comfort, and reach out to embrace the uncharted purviews. Each of us have it within us, the ability to be limitless in our capacity to achieve. It is an inborn instinct that can be stretched with use or atrophied by the lure of contentment with status quo. We can each stride past the doubts, the second-guessing, and all the hurdles that come our way – and make a choice afresh, every day of the year, that we will be the best version of ourselves there can ever be.

The only guarantee we have now is the present. But what we do with every present of the days God has freely given us in the new year is what will make all the difference. So throw in your hat into the 2022 ring with all you’ve got, hold on to God and enjoy the ride.

Let’s lose sight of those familiar shores and embrace every horizon the year has to offer.