It’s ironic that my entry before this was all about faith, or my leap from it. And just a few weeks after posting that entry, the entire world was plunged into a tailspin unseen or unheard of, that even faith couldn’t make a dent on an invisible enemy. And as we celebrate this year’s holiday season, taking stock of what we still have now means more than ever before… maybe in our entire lives.

Who would’ve thought that a virus would literally shut down the world and our modern way of life? I mean, we’ve had outbreaks before; from SARS to Avian Flu, Mad Cow disease to Ebola. Yet mankind has managed to render them under control. It makes one wonder: does progress always have inherent consequences? Is this mother nature’s way of fighting back man’s continued disdain and wanton abuse of Earth’s natural resources?

That may be the bigger picture. But this pandemic touched every single one of us. It forced us to throw out the current life playbook we have and made us stand still… literally and figuratively. And with that, jobs were lost, livelihoods were halted, families were torn apart, sanities went haywire, wheels stopped turning, and every healthcare system in the world was stretched to breaking points again and again.

But amidst all that, adversity breeds resourcefulness and most importantly, resilience. And as the world slowly starts to receive the first doses of the Covid19 vaccine, we end 2020 with a small sliver of light coming from 2021 which all of us are fervently hoping is the year we start to recover. It’s by no means a sure thing that we’ll go back to how things were before all this went down, but it’s better to be up on one knee than our faces planted flat on the ground.

Just like everyone else, this year has tested me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Physically, emotionally, psychologically, and emotionally. Yet I’m extremely thankful for a select few people outside my family for helping me keep things in perspective, for being an inspiration, and providing a relief from the doldrums of living alone. I’ll be forever grateful for them being in my life during this time.

If you’re asking where my faith has been throughout all of this, well, it’s right where it should be. Refer to my previous entry if you’re still confused. In any case, I’m as grateful and thankful as can be for surviving this year. I probably couldn’t have made it without certain people in my life, so they’re a huge part of my 2020 chapter. And as I turn the next pages in 2021, I’ll continue to stand by them as they stood by me. No matter what happens.

This year’s Christmas may be the most different, difficult, and subdued one we’ll ever have. But nonetheless, it’s always good to take stock of what we still have, what we’ve accomplished, and look forward to what’s in store; no matter how the pandemic affected us.

Merry Christmas, everyone.