The year 2020 will be a good year when I look back on it.
The year 2020 has been for me one with problems that predated the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic. But those problems are being addressed if not resolved. The pandemic itself has not created any new problems that won't pass with the end of the pandemic. And there has been good that as the years pass will overwhelm the bad and define this year for me.
One part of my view is that problems could have been way worse if the pandemic had hit in the previous years. Or even a year later. So I had that going for me.
So the bad has been contained for now. There have also been a number of good and neutral things this year. And one good thing will be what defines the year: My daughter graduated from high school and began college. And she was admitted under the pre-pandemic standards before they seemed to decline across the education world in response to the pandemic. So nobody will ever be able to say she got into her university on anything less than her qualifications.
Sure, there is much that is out of my hands. Voters vote, politicians act, and overseas friends, foes, and enemies act in ways I don't want them to. I don't like those things. Some annoy me and some infuriate me. But those things don't define my personal life. I influence what I can and cope with what I cannot influence.
So yeah, 2020 will be a good year despite this once-in-a-century pandemic. I really am a glass half full kind of man, aren't I?
I know that many people have endured much, whether from the pandemic or from the reaction to the pandemic--both justified and unjustified reactions. So I don't dismiss the losses that many people have endured and that will take time to grieve and overcome.
But while I can already foresee viewing his year positively, my hope for those who have endured much will with the passage of more time be able to look back on 2020 and say that it was a good year. Whether in the balance or because of what you did to overcome the problems of 2020 that helped you for the rest of your life.
Happy new year!
