From
the Bottom of the Bucket
“Out
with the New…In with the Old”
“These
are the good old’ days”-Carly Simon
Well, 2020 is now history and the New Year finds us groping
about in the fog of the “new” normal. I
am feeling my age, as I long for the “good old days“ and to those much younger
to me, I am sure I seem like a relic caught in a time warp. I am reminded of listening to my parents wish
for a return to the “simple” life. Of
course, it is all an illusion, as change is a biological imperative of nature
and Nature always wins.
Still, it seems to be we all are having a bout of nostalgia.
A desire to return to the “old” normal.
I think this yearning is especially strong in the category of the “little”
things. I had to adjust my exercise program and each time I workout in my living
room, I miss the social environment of my gym.
As I write this we are preparing for the Super Bowl, but no
parties. Cardboard cut outs in the
stands, fake crowd noise on the TV!
All though my wife has entered a new level on her cooking,
we both miss the conviviality of a restaurant dinner party. Going to the
movies? Forget it. How about a cold one at my neighborhood tavern? Not happening. But you know all this
already.
Now we are starting to emerge from this haze. We will attempt to return to our former
habits. Can we? Should we? What many of
us took for granted now seems precious.
But wasn’t it always? It seems a shame that it takes a calamity to make
us appreciate what a miracle our daily mundane life is. Michael J. Fox says in his new book No
Time Like the Future “Gratitude fuels optimism. Optimism is about the
promises of the future, gratitude looks at the present” I have learned much
about gratitude in the past ten months. Those lessons will be applied in
defining my new normal.
Whatever your new normal turns out to be, I hope
that your attention to the little pleasures in life and are grateful for all
the good things that we might have taken for granted in the past. That could be
Covid’s golden gift to you.
Until next month, I wish you fulfillment.
Bob
