I’ve been listening to Ben Rector’s “The Best is Yet To Come” on repeat since it came out a few weeks ago. It felt so real, so true, and like a reminder that we will in fact be okay.
As we head into this new year, we are all broken. It’s hard to believe that 2022 is starting much like what it felt to be moving into 2021. In many ways, we may want to forget the past year, and yet, we must believe that the best is yet to come. There are better times ahead, and there is beauty in believing that something good lies over the horizon. The blue skies are there, the sun will come out again.
After two years of so much adversity, It’s easy to lose hope. After seeing so much tragedy, it’s hard to feel like we ever will be same again. But here’s the thing, we won’t be. We won’t get our loved ones back, and we won’t get the years we missed again. We won’t unsee the things we have seen, or forget the trauma we have endured. We won’t get to make up the celebrations we missed, relive the gatherings cancelled, go on the many the trips unplanned. We have missed birthdays and babies, graduations and galas. We have missed theater and restaurants, showers and so much more. There are so many things we have missed, and we’re not getting them back.
But here’s the thing, it’s not just about what we’ve lost, but what we’ve gained. While we have waited patiently for our world to return to “normal,” there has been beauty in the waiting. We have learned how to live a life of simplicity, cleared room in our heads and our hearts to see clearer the world around us. We are emerging changed, and I hope and think changed for the better. We no longer take the moments with those we love for granted, we are no longer waiting for the perfect time or place to say and do the things we love. We’re are embracing moments big and small, knowing that each moment is a moment we may never have again. We are kinder to those around us, because we all know how hard this world has been these past two years. We believe the best is yet to come, but we will honor these tough times knowing they will undoubtedly make the good times better. There is no light without the darkness, no calm without the storm.
My hope for you this coming year, is that you find beauty in the darkness. That you take all you have seen and all you have learned to love a little bit harder and live a little bit brighter. May your anxiety fade into calm knowing, and your quiet hope tell you a different story than what we have been told these past years. May you believe that the best is yet to come, and there are brighter times ahead. May we move forward with gratitude and grace, one step at a time.
“So Raise up your glass, here’s to a brand new beginnings. Don’t shed a tear for the things that are ending. Cause tomorrow will bring us a new morning sun. My friends I believe the best is yet to come.”