This year, you get one good paragraph.
Last year around this time, I wrote a piece here about my mental health journey, and about anxiety and depression and how important it is to keep going. I ended with this:
I can say that I’m a better person on Dec. 31 than I was on Jan. 1. And I hope to be a better person still a year from now. Life will still have ups and still have downs. As I type this, there are very real things I’m confused about. That’s, well, life. But progress is worth acknowledging and celebrating.
I could just copy and paste those last three lines, call it a day and hit publish. But that seems lame. So I’ll try something else instead.
I’m not breaking any new ground with the news that 2020 has been, by and large, really really bad. It’s been horrific on a global scale. Personally, it’s been, well, not great. I wish I had some great insight like, “But here’s what I’ve learned!” or something. I don’t. It’d seem cheap and fake, and I don’t do that.
So, now that I’ve rambled for four paragraphs, here’s the one substantive one you get:
Be kind to yourself. Love others deeply. When things don’t make sense, cling to your own worth and value. Have a dog (or cat, if you’re one of those people) that will be there for you when you wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night.
That’s all I’ve got. Cheers to having something better a year from now.
