2022 – Keep Hope Alive

I concluded my last article by saying “Thus, although I am pleased to see the back of 2021, I will definitely embrace 2022 with much trepidation”.

I agree with many readers that it provided a gloomy vision indeed.

But is my trepidation well-founded?

I have trepidation – trepidation that our leaders around the world are incapable of generating hope in all of us. Hope that they can end human suffering. Hope that they can give us the governments that we need to protect us from violence, poverty, oppression, hunger, and other dangers that surround us and keep us in a state of hopelessness.

But I also realize that depending on our governments to provide us with hope for the future is naïve. Governments are composed of people, people with the same phobias and vices, fears and inhibitions as we all have.

Hope, like happiness, must spring from within.

Each of us must nurture our intuition and define our happiness, and each of us must define our own hope.

Covid-19 has proven lethal to many and has caused much anxiety. We look for government to do something to end the pandemic. But how many of us question vaccines? How many of us refuse to wear masks? How many of us refuse to adapt to our new reality in the name of individual freedom? How many of us continue crowding shopping malls and beaches?

We have all seen how our healthcare workers have selflessly and, at the cost of many of their lives, worked tirelessly to provide the care that victims of the pandemic have required. We have seen how children have adapted to circumstances at times better than adults – studying from home on-line, and their teachers changing entire syllabuses to meet the challenge.

After I came down with Covid-19 in October, I learnt that the important things in life are not things, but feelings, emotions, and experiences.

Mostly I learnt to appreciate all that I have and I am. Life is too short to concentrate on the acquisition of things rather than experiences.

I learnt that I must create my hope within myself and share that feeling with those around me.

That I must show compassion. That I must reach out and touch others in meaningful ways. That conversations must focus on interesting and profound issues and not be limited to the superficial but, rather, to the sharing of knowledge and wisdom. I learnt that I must create my own little world in which I provide myself with the leadership to act in a human and humane manner.

I learnt that time is not meant to be wasted.

We must adopt new values and new goals and objectives. We must strive for what really matters.

Our education systems, celebrities, political and social leaders, and the media must teach us how to love rather than hate, how to unite rather than divide, how to share rather than hoard.

A wise man once told me that I might never know when a small act of kindness towards someone might well be the answer to their prayers. Small acts of kindness change the atmosphere in which we live and may well inspire others to do the same.

I have found that a simple act of kindness makes me feel good. Makes me feel hopeful. Makes me feel human.

The late Bishop Desmond Tutu (a man whose life we are celebrating this week with his passing) used to say ““Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

I have found that I can create a better micro-world within myself, not to ignore the world outside, but to give me the strength to cope with it and. Perhaps, contribute to changing it.

Inspirational national and international political leaders are a rarity these days.

Let’s stop making heroes of our entertainers and politicians. Rather let’s elevate our sights to those who do good and inspire good values.

I don’t believe in trickle-down economics, nor do I believe in trickle-down hope.

I believe that is each of us cultivates hope and love in ourselves, and shares it with those around us, that we can create trickle-up hope and trickle-up leadership. If we can convince our political classes that we demand something better in return for our vote, we might just well make a difference.

In Latin America people often say “aporto mi granito de arena” (I contribute my little grain of sand).

One grain of sand may appear to be small, but a billion may just make a beautiful beach. 

In 2022, we should promise ourselves to bring our little grain of sand to life.

Someone once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world”.

It is the only way that we will change things, and that things will change.

Let’s keep hope alive in 2022 and slowly, step by step, overwhelm the world.

Happy New Year!

Keep reading: 2021 – A Year Best Forgotten

Edición: Laura Espejo