By Mellissa Olivares, Staff Writer
I couldn’t have expected 2020 to get any worse until it did. The particular pain of losing my cousin during quarantine was excruciating. Every day felt terrible, but she was selfless and I knew she wouldn’t have wanted me to dwell on it.
Losing her taught me how important it is for people to focus on the good in the world. Happiness isn’t something easy to find when the world is seemingly crumbling at your feet; but when you do, it can help you transition into a happier, healthier state of consciousness.
COVID-19 undoubtedly left us devoid of hope for 2021, the constant struggle to remain optimistic becoming increasingly difficult. This is partly due to the toxic negativity perpetuated across various new media platforms.
Our continuous exposure to terrible news makes it hard to look on the bright side of things. It’s very unlikely news outlets will stop broadcasting negativity to the public, so the least we can do is devote as much time to positive news stories as we do negative ones.
Improving society’s mental state and recovering hope for the future is key to unlocking a positive outlook on 2021. Seeking happiness is mainly about dealing with our unhappiness, understanding its source and acting upon it. You don’t realize how important something is until it’s gone, and now we must redirect our search to any and all little joys we can find.
To have hope is to desire an outcome that improves one’s life in one way or another. It not only helps make a difficult situation more bearable but also eventually betters our lives because envisioning a brighter future will motivate people to make it a reality.
Hope exists in the most unexpected of places. One of those places is with our families. Now that we are stuck together in this confined space we can focus on developing stronger relationships. Since quarantine started, my relationship with my younger brother has definitely changed for the better.
We can also find hope in new hobbies. Playing sports, making art or writing stories can be a refreshing way to separate ourselves from the chaos at the door. Honing a new craft such as these can prove very satisfying and the focus needed can make for great mindfulness. They can provide some calm amidst the storm, and even help with mental wellbeing.
Embracing the new normal is also very important. Dismissing the negative things in life simply because they’re bad would leave you uninformed. People have more to lose by being uninformed of negative stories than uniformed of positive ones, but it’s more about having a balance between the good and bad.
2020 was a very difficult year: COVID-19, stay-at-home orders, virtual school, separation from friends and family, a country divide over an election. It’s evident with the cards we’ve been dealt throughout the past year that the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find light and beauty amongst the clouds.