AD 2021 and The Twelth Day of Christmas at Work
Our first official work day post of 2021 lands on the Twelfth Day of Christmas. The popular Christmas song tells us that our true love has brought us twelve drummers drumming - this after a slew of eleven other gifts, already delivered, beginning with a partridge in a pear tree, which commenced the giving of ten more gifts, leading to today's drummers.
If you can't hear the drumming at this moment, you may be doing what we Catholic men at work do during the work week: work. And work has certainly begun in this calendar year 2021 - at least it has for me.
As we go about plying our trades, or professions, or jobs - whatever the nature of your work might be - some of us may wonder how differently 2021 will play out compared to 2020. While we may have wondered about this at the beginning of every past calendar year, this time may be a bit different. 2020 was a doozy, due to the C-Virus Mess that smothered us all starting in March of 2020. While each of us may have been smothered differently, it's almost a sure bet that we were, and may continue to be, experiencing the consequences of something totally unique.
However the C-Virus Mess affected your individual work and personal life, one thing we all shared was the experience of a government-imposed lock down of our churches, our schools, and our economy. Without access to Mass and Sacraments for months on end, our spiritual lives may have taken a hit. Schools switching to "virtual" teaching may not have effected those who home-school, but those who don't had decidedly mixed experiences. And the economic lock downs caused a massive recession, with accompanying loss of jobs, closing of small businesses. We're still suffering the consequences.
Of course, we don't want to forget the drama of the national election. I don't remember anything even remotely like it. For sanity's sake, and in consideration of time today, we'll reserve any comments for another time.
So prudence dictates that we should not discount "spillover" of the C-Virus Mess of 2020 into 2021. Even with the vaccines that have been developed, the logistics of poking everyone in the U.S., never mind the rest of the world, are pretty complicated. (And it's likely we'll each have to be poked at least twice, based on current products.) Why consider the rest of the world? Well, if the virus is quelled here but not there (wherever "there" might be), at the very least, it would inhibit travel and, possibly, trade with those questionable parts of the world. Oh, and let's remember that not everyone has expressed enthusiasm about being vaccinated. (Will the government mandate vaccinations? - another twist to the story.)
Our business has been effected, and will likely continue to be. It's not an existential threat. And it's not even really a game-changer - although we do seek different ways to communicate and interact as circumstances dictate. One thing we've focused on is monitoring how it all impacts our clients, since that could impact their desire and/or ability to pay for our services. As we have been doing since end Q1 2020, we shall continue to do into 2021.
As for personal impact, vs. work, that's also going to bleed into work, at least it likely will for many if not most of us. It's only natural that what goes on at home affects our ability to concentrate at work. Worries about our families, even if our businesses are only slightly dislodged, can't be sealed off and kept at arms length. At least that's been my experience.
Well, by now, you likely get the point: When it comes to our work - never mind our personal lives - 2021 will begin as no other year most of us have ever experienced. A combination of concern, worry, confusion, uncertainty will have to be met with a special concoction of determination, diligence, persistence, and a big dollop of creativity. An open mind, along with a keen awareness of events as they unfold will help us as 2021 commences.
And, as if we needed reminding, our spiritual life will need to take top priority. Remember that our spiritual life stands apart, and above, everything else. Forget about any tendency to ignore, minimize, marginalize that may have characterized past treatment of matter spiritual. If we catch even the slightest whiff of such bad habits, stop everything, take note, and make provisions for getting your priorities straight.
And the key area of focus in the spiritual life is the Present Moment. While planning remains a basic and necessary tool in how we approach each new day, once that day begins, we find ourselves in the midst of God's Plan, something into which few, if any, of us have any real insight. An active, ardent spiritual life will provide the understanding we need to sort out what's within our power to effect or change. It will concentrate our efforts in those areas within our control, and allow us to release that which is beyond our control into God's loving Hands. The place where all this is sorted out is the Present Moment.
Frankly, it's really all we can do. And maybe the best lesson we might learn from 2020 is simply to recall that none or us - None. Of. Us. - had any idea that what began in March would continue pretty much through the rest of the year. I suspect when it began, we really had no idea how things would unfold, and and, therefore, we likely had no set plan to address the challenges that ensued. But, somehow (by the grace of God) we did - or were forced to - address those challenges. Whether the result of our efforts was success, failure, or something in between depends on our individual circumstances.
So now, plan in hand, we face 2021 prepared to execute our plan best we can. And if we're bombarded with the curve balls that 2020 threw at us, well, we've got some experience with that under our belts now.
Overall, not a bad way to approach AD 2021 on this Twelfth Day of Christmas, don't you think?
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