One Wish for the 2020 Holidays

 

If you could have just one wish for the 2020 Holidays, what would it be?

New iPhone? New laptop computer? New diamond necklace? Come on, think big! New house? How about a 10-day trip to Italy with your family and your 83-year-old Italian mom to visit her parents’ hometown?

Well, a trip to Italy with my mom was actually supposed to happen this past May, but due to COVID-19 it was postponed until 2021. It is looking more and more like it will not happen in 2022. I am hoping my mom will stay healthy enough to be able to join us.

So, I ask you again, if you could have just one wish, what would it be?

For the vast majority of us, I would like to think the answer for 2020 should be pretty simple: an immediate cure for the insidious virus known as COVID-19.

Hmmm. How does that fit under the tree? It won’t. But if enough people would pray, focus their karma, and send all their positive energy to the researchers, medical and pharmaceutical companies, supply chain experts and the frontline medical professionals, maybe our wish can miraculously come to pass.

Think about it. If the virus was cured, the global economy would roar back to life. You may get that new electronic gadget, car or vacation after all. It just might not happen until the dust settles.

We need people to be able to get back to work and until we have better treatment options and enough vaccines, that doesn’t look like it will happen by the end of the year. 

I don’t know about you, but I would gladly give up my own selfish wishes to help everyone to get healthy and back on their feet financially.

Once the pandemic ends people’s confidence will return. Jobs will return. While the stock market may be at an all-time high, that doesn’t really matter to many of the millions of people who are out of work. Dipping into their retirement funds out of necessity can only sustain people for so long (assuming they even have savings of any kind). Look past your own situation and be empathetic to those who are suffering the health and financial consequences of something largely out of their control.

A recent article by hospitality expert Gabbie Riley describes the stress that came with the realization that her entire industry of hospitality and entertainment has essentially disappeared.

Think of the millions of people around the world who are experiencing similar circumstances. I have said before that fewer people working means less taxes being collected, which means more jobs and services will be cut or disappear, some possibly never to return.

Despite all the negativity and divisiveness going on in the world, I would like to think we can all collectively agree on a cure for this virus as a top priority. I am passionate about this, but I am also pragmatic. While I will pray for a cure and send all my positive karma to that cause, I am not counting on any miracles. I think the best thing I can do is to control what I can and ask you to do the same.

1. Wear a mask, wash your hands and take good care of yourself (including nutrition and rest) so you are less likely to get sick.

2. Avoid large crowds for a few more weeks (or months if that’s what it takes).

3. Call and/or write to your politicians to insist they really work together for the greater good and stop playing politics with our lives. Pass the stimulus package, earmark monies to assist medical researchers to put together the pieces necessary to eradicate COVID-19, and provide whatever assistance is needed to assist with treatment and vaccine production and distribution.

4. Do something nice for our first responders and front-line health workers.

5. Help those less fortunate than ourselves. We all have or know of families where both parents have lost jobs. Help them in any way you can. It may be delivering a meal or sending them a gift card to a local restaurant or babysitting while they work on resumes and go for job interviews.

6. Help out with a local charity, especially those who provide critical services like food, shelter and clothing. Be mindful of the mental health challenges that people are facing due to the stresses of losing loved ones, not being able to visit family (especially elderly parents) and job losses because of COVID-19.

We need the holiday spirit of giving (time, money or resources) to others more this year than ever. We can all make sacrifices to help others by being intentional and deliberate in how we spend our money (buy local when possible) and where we devote our time. 

Let’s all go above and beyond in the year of the “Great Pause” and help our family, friends and others in need. Let’s all pitch in however we can. Then we can plan for one heck of a celebration in the summer of 2021 for having come together for the human race.

Whether you pray, want to focus all your positive vibes, send your karma, whatever, do it now. Let’s work together mentally, physically and spiritually to put an end to this pandemic and roar into 2021.