The Making Of A Year by Marilyn Rivera

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift which is why it is called present." - Master Oogway from the movie Kung Fu Panda

The Making of a Year

Once you choose HOPE, anything's possible. - Christopher Reeve

As we closed 2019, a series of unfortunate events catapulted us to 2020. There was the eruption of Taal Volcano which dislocated 253,000 families from their homes to spend weeks in evacuation centers. Next, the spread of the epidemic Coronavirus which locked down 11 million people in Wuhan, China. And then, the death of a group of people from a chopper crash in California with one of NBAs retired-MVP, Kobe Bryant with her daughter and seven other people with them.

This year definitely greeted us with a bang. As we lit a firecracker, there was no going back to the past. Although this bang may not exactly be like those firework orchestras welcoming us with dancing colors in the sky, but rather this kind was somewhat taunting. Nevertheless, a very important lesson was taught to us early this year that even amidst the black barren sky, we still learn to find hope in the darkest of times.

Let us not fall to the ludicrous notion that the rest of the year will be just as gloomy as it started. Being optimistic in every situation is the key to overcome our troubles how dreadful it may seem. Staying positive doesn't mean you have to be happy all the time when

there are so much sadness all around. It means that even on hard days, you know that there are better ones coming and you look forward to it.

Appreciate more. Learn to be grateful for small things which we take for granted every day. I remembered a homeless, colorblind man in his mid-30s wiped his tears as he put on special glasses that were gifted to him. It was not the act of giving that overwhelmed me since those kinds of glasses were expensive. But it was the homeless guy’s question that astonished me as he turned and looked around flabbergasted on what he was seeing. His world started to display more color which he had never seen before. His jaw dropped and said, "You guys get to see this every day?!" This made me realized so many things that words cannot express. How fortunate, how lucky and how far more blessed we are than we realize. Value the people and things that we have and also be thankful on what we don't have.

This year is what we make of it. It is our hope, our prayers and our positivity. Life is meant to be lived, by living the moments and not dwell in our past. We learn the lessons we keep and we move forward. We do not create hate but rather we form hope today for a better tomorrow.