Every year we habitually and customarily usher in new year with a lot of pomp, glory, splendor and merrymaking. New year to many simply does not mark a change in the calendar month but it is also the beginning of new dreams, hopes, plans, goals, resolutions, something to look forward to, something to drive us to do and be a better version of ourselves.

As human beings most of us have and need a purpose in our lives and we evolve constantly in our journey of life. This purpose defines us in many ways and sometimes adversity brings the best out of us because of most do have the inner resources to fight hardships in varying degrees. Time too plays a crucial role in our respective journeys in life and our ability to manage time makes a world of difference. The year 2020 has been a year of valuing our relationships, of being grateful for many things that we perhaps took for granted earlier and counting our blessings, of learning about our strengths and rising to the occasion whenever we needed to, of reckoning and above all, the most primal need, survival. At the same time, many people have suffered irreparable losses this year in their near and dear ones, lost their livelihoods, battled and are still battling physical and mental health illnesses to name a few. Understandably, this has been a time of deep reflection and change of perspectives for not just those who have been afflicted but all and sundry.

In this new year, almost all across the globe, every individual from all walks of life have been pinning their hopes on the vaccine which could enable them to start living their lives as they did earlier. As many of us spent virtually one full year indoors, studying or working from home and adapting to this new way of life after some initial hiccups which is often termed as the “new normal”, we also realized that we are resilient and many thanks to technology, both learning and work has been happening.

From an early age, children are taught life skills both at home and at school. As a matter of fact, life skills training is an integral part of the structured school curriculum. As we grow up, we constantly learn and hone different life skills from the myriad experiences we experience on a day to day basis. One of the best examples to understand how adaptable and resilient we are lies in the fact that at some given point of our lives most of us may have lost someone or the other close to us. We do go through an intense period of bereavement but with time we learnt to accept this loss and move on with our lives. Life skills not only redefined itself but there has been a dynamic shift in both its understanding and practice since last year.

According to Charles Darwin,

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, it is the one that is most adaptable to change.

While networking and connectivity reached its peak and the whole world remained interconnected at various levels, organizations and individuals worked online for the first time in unique and creative ways. Time and again despite all the odds, we have all read numerous stories of people turning challenges into opportunities even in some of the remotest areas of the country which talks about hope.

There were many heartening stories of gratitude, kindness and people extending helping hand as a good Samaritan during these unusually trying times which speaks volumes

As a human race, we have all learnt to re-evaluate our lives, assess our priorities and understand the difference between “need and want”. Last year has also given us more than a sneak peek into the kind of carbon footprint we have been leaving on our universe when we were forced to live indoors and pollution levels were not only at an all-time low but other species of the habitat like animals and birds ventured out like never before.

Here’s hoping in the days, weeks, months and years to come all of us would consciously be more mindful about our actions, practice gratitude as a way of life because gratitude is critical to happiness. Not only when we extend our support to someone but when we are at the receiving end, we learn to value little gestures, and this adds meaning to our lives.

A verse from a song by Michael Jackson is so apt for the present times…

Heal the world

Make it a better place

For you and for me

And the entire human race

There are people dying

If you care enough for the living

Make it a better place

For you and for me

Moutushi Choudhury

Behavioral Counselor

“It doesn’t matter what you have but what you are” is my innate belief in life. Having completed my post-graduation in human development and post graduate diploma in psychological counselling, I worked extensively in the development sector in the fields on gender, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and mental health. This is when I felt a deep need to connect with people on an emotional level and hence, I made a deeper foray into the world of counselling. Books, music, travelling and friends are my elixir! At CHIREC, working with the adolescent age group has been an extremely dynamic and exhilarating experience as there are new challenges each day!