Thursday, December 31, 2020

31st December 2020

It's the 31st of December 2020.

The year is coming to an end but the effects of it will linger through 2021. At least for the first few months. Malaysia ends the year with a record high cases of 2,525 just today.

I find myself in a familiar position, wrapped under my covers in my room waiting to hear the fireworks at midnight. It reminds me of my days in Bristol, actually.

2020 will go down as probably the most memorable year for a lot of us. Never would have I ever thought in a million years we'd find ourselves in a pandemic, and partaking in a nationwide lockdown for close to three months. How we find it so normal to be wearing masks and having to scan QR codes and take temperature virtually everywhere we go. Kalau tak, it'll be so kekok. So many things are just so... kekok this year. Who the hell would've thought social distancing would ever be a thing. The other day I bumped into a friend's mum and at first we didn't salam but at the end, we just decided to salam her and I miss it so much! Last day of the year and it's still so weird to me. 

This year, I'm just very, very grateful. That I have a roof over my head, food on the table, family to be quarantined with, friends to holiday together and a job to groan about. The world saw a lot of kindness and generosity and understanding. It really felt like God wanted to give us a time out from our tumultuous days. How cliche is it to say this but it stands true: to give the world a break it needed. And most importantly, for us to realise how good we've got it with our lives. To be thankful for the frontliners, to be empathetic and generous to the ones who are going through an immensely difficult time, to be considerate of each other and to learn how to prioritise. I think what I've been trying to say (but so hard to word it out!) is that this pandemic has forced us to take a step back from our daily to reevaluate our lives and see what we can do to make it a better place. During that short sweet period of time when Malaysia was doing single digit cases everyday (I cry thinking about it), I appreciated going out and doing normal things a whole lot more. What used to be a normal experience like planning a trip with friends would soon be such an exciting time. Or going for karaoke! Or watching movies ramai ramai. And going to weddings!!! Man, I miss it all. I can't wait for the time we can travel and see the world again, I miss it so much. I miss the world being normal so much!

This year I'm also so happy and blessed because something happened in my life that has made me closer to God. Honestly, I don't know what'll happen but I'm happy anyway that it's made me more in touch with my faith. I spend more time after prayers to berdoa for things I want for myself and for the ones I love. I look forward to praying too. InsyaAllah to better things for me this 2021. 

Ok! Let's make this 2021 much much better than the last. There's just so much more for us to be and to do and I hope we work hard to make them happen this year. Let's always strive to be better people. Better daughters and sons, better partners, better sisters and brothers and better friends. Find the things in life to be grateful for and I promise it'll change your perspective on life. It's worked for me and I hope it does the same to you too. Some days will be harder than the next but my God, you've got this!!

We're going to make the start of a new year the start of a new take on life. You've got this!

Love to all! Here's to a wonderful year ahead of us, however challenging it may be.

xx