Dear 2021:
To say that I have been anticipating your arrival would be a gross understatement. Every new year brings the promise of optimism, positive change, growth, and new beginnings. However, given how your younger sibling 2020 wreaked absolute havoc upon the world, there is so much pressure upon you to bring this and so much more. I think I can speak for all of us that we are hoping that you are the relief that we have been hoping for; we are waiting with bated breath to see if you, 2021, will bring about a healing that we so desperately need. We are counting on you to be the year that this hellscape called reality finally transforms into something we can all look forward to. If nothing else, we need you to be the year that order begin to be restored and recovery from a hellacious 2020 can begin.
2021, I am counting on you. However, I am counting on myself that much more. I know now that my year is ultimately what I make of it, and for so long I was relying on outside factors to push me. I was heavily reliant on powers outside of my control to be kind to me and was all too quick to sulk when the benevolent forces I ached for were ultimately absent. I was so quick to point my finger outward without realizing that at the same time, three other fingers were pointing right back at me asking the same questions I asked through tears: “Why me?”
Instead, you will be the year where all the lessons I have learned in the past will finally be put to good use. You will be the year where I stop over-extending myself for people who barely lift a finger for me in return. You will be the year that I finally put myself first and stop shrinking and contorting myself to fit into the disrespectfully small expectations others have placed upon me for much too long. You will be the year that I step into being my full self-unapologetic, unflinching, and authentic.
2021, you bring the precious gift of time. You bring the gift of 365 more days to get it right. What I do with each of these days, however, is ultimately up to me. Thus, my commitment to you is that I will resist spending a second of those days feeling sorry for myself, complaining about how “unfair” life is, or resigning myself to a lesser fate. Instead, I will do my best to squeeze every drop of value out of those days I can. Even when my day does not go well, I will reflect on whatever lesson it taught me so that the next one can be better. Even amid inevitable mourning, disappointments, or obstacles, I will find the silver lining and press forward. In the unfortunate event that this is my final year on Earth, I would like to leave it as one where I truly did the damn thing and lived this year-this life-to the fullest.
2021, you are going to be an incredible, amazing, and beautiful year. This will be the case because I have decided that I will make it so. My 2021 resolution is to make you the year that everything began to shift in my favor. I look forward to bringing in 2022 with a smile on my face and champagne glass in hand knowing that you provided the push that I needed to be myself and achieve my wildest dreams. For now, though, I welcome you with open arms and look forward to creating memories and building a legacy on your shoulders. Thank you in advance 2021: you will be everything I need and more.
About the Creator
Jasmyn Elliott
Writer and beauty pro living and loving in South Florida.
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