2020 is almost over, and as we prepare to flush this year into the septic tank of history where it deserves to be, I find myself cautiously optimistic about the coming year. I’m eager to see what 2021 will bring, but at the same time, I also know that I don’t want to get my hopes up too high only to see them dashed if 2021 turns out to be as big of a dumpster fire as its predecessor.
If nothing else, 2020 has been a major learning experience in managing expectations. I don’t know if anyone told themselves in December, 2019, that this next year was going to be amazing, but I’m pretty sure nobody was planning to spend twelve months hiding at home, stocking up on toilet paper and disposable masks, and blaming politicians for being incompetent in the face of crisis (which is a lot like blaming fish for swimming). For this reason, as the clock ticks into the new year, I am keeping my resolutions and plans at a reasonable level.
For example, in 2020, I had planned to take an Alaskan cruise during the summer. That was cancelled. I had reservations for a writing convention in Sacramento that I was going to attend with my friend Wes Blalock. That also was cancelled. I also had purchased tickets to fly to Hawaii and spend a couple weeks in Kauai. Surprise! Also cancelled.
So, for this coming year, I am keeping my goals simple. For example, I am making a few new year’s resolutions that I think will be much easier to keep than the traditional ones. Instead of telling myself that I will eat better, exercise and lose some weight, I am simply going to try not to eat and drink so much that my heart ends up exploding in my chest. I am pretty sure I can keep this resolution. The good news, however, is that even if I can’t, by the time I realize I’ve failed to keep it, I will only have to live with the knowledge for a few seconds at most. I believe this is a winning strategy.
I am also planning on spending less time watching television during 2021. This should be an easy resolution to keep given that I think I set a record in 2020 for sedentary behavior. The couch has a permanent indent in the cushion from me sitting on it sixteen hours a day for most of the past 52 weeks.
The same will be true about my travel plans.
This year, I am no longer setting my sights on vacations and conferences. My expectations will be a tad lower. In August next year, I am scheduled to attend a writers’ conference in Louisiana. After the parade of shattered plans last year, I have decided this year that instead of telling people that I am going to fly to New Orleans, I will simply say that I am hoping to get out of the house. If my trip actually happens, that will be a bonus, but I won’t get my hopes up. If the flight is cancelled as everything else in my life over the past twelve months has been cancelled, I will instead step out into my backyard and walk until I reach the back fence. I can then announce to the world that I have successfully gotten out of the house. It is a low bar, true, but it is a goal I believe that I can reasonably achieve.
Overall, I have managed not to become too excited about the coming year. I have never really had a great outlook on life in general, and it isn’t just the big, world-wide, life altering things either. My life for the past several years has been an ongoing parade of minor events telling me that I need to lower my expectations.
Recently, we had a very nice casserole for dinner. The leftovers went into the refrigerator and I had planned to enjoy a second helping for my lunch the next day. Unfortunately, by the time the rest of my family had finished with late night snacking and breakfast the next morning, when I opened the refrigerator the following afternoon, there was nothing left for me. I made the mistake of getting my hopes up, and disappointment was the predictable result. I should have simply told myself that whatever I found in the fridge was going to be lunch. That way, after eating the last few olives out of a jar and munching on a slice of American cheese that had fallen out of the packet and slipped to the back of the crisper drawer, it would merely be sad. It wouldn’t also be a disappointment.
With a constant barrage of little reminders like this one, I am getting better at accepting the reality of my existence. I no longer hope that the two new cats in my house will stop tipping over the garbage can and scattering garbage all over the kitchen floor. I no longer expect that when I get takeout from any of the local restaurants that the food in the bag will be anything close to what I actually ordered. I have even stopped wishing that my children will grow up to be productive and contributing members of society. I just want them to get out of my house.
And, finally, I don’t need the new year to be a complete return to normal life. I would settle for it being marginally better than 2020.
Whatever your goals may be for 2021, big or small, I hope you achieve them, and I wish you a happy, and slightly less abnormal, new year.
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