Adapt

January 2, 2021

Rise.  Shine.  For the past two years I have adopted a word to guide me from January to December--a reminder, a goal, a mantra.  Two years ago I needed to remind myself that I was capable of rising up, like a phoenix from the ashes left behind in the wake of my divorce.  And rise I did.  Last year, I chose to focus on not just rising, but shining through both the good and bad circumstances life sends my way.  I'm not going to lie; this past year was a challenging year to shine and see the silver linings.  COVID has changed so many things about the way we operate as a society since last March.  Still, there were many shining moments with family members, friends, and students.  We made the most of social distancing, wearing masks, zooms, and periodic lockdowns and saw benefits of getting to spend more time at home reading, cooking, crafting, and bonding, and less time in hustling from school to soccer practice to the grocery store to meeting after meeting, and to all of the other myriad places we always felt we needed to be from minute to minute. Instead of constantly being on the move, we were able to be still and shine in the quiet moments. 

It wasn't until tonight that I decided on my word for the upcoming year.  I went to the Fresno Fairgrounds for their last weekend of Holiday Lights.  During most years, the fairgrounds would be hosting the annual Hmong New Year celebration during this week.  However, as COVID numbers continue to rise, getting together in big groups still poses a great risk of spreading the disease, so like so many other cherished events, it was canceled. Like many other businesses and event organizers,  the fair board worked hard to adapt to our current condition.  I've seen this again and again over the past several months--restaurants that created new opportunities for take-out and delivery services to stay afloat, gyms that created online content to support both physical and mental health, businesses that shifted to provide products that were suddenly in high demand such as hand sanitizer and face masks, and of course, schools that pivoted overnight to support continued education when bringing all the kids into the buildings together simply wasn't feasible.  The fair adapted its space this year to provide the community with holiday joy and happiness (and presumably, to help generate revenue) by sponsoring the Holiday Fantasy of  Lights Show.  It was a no-contact, drive through spectacular.  The grounds were transformed into beautiful displays that showed charm and character, and were a perfect reminder that if we are creative, open-minded, and adaptable, we can meet any challenge head-on and even create a reality we might not otherwise have been able to see.

ADAPT.  What a great reminder.  In the past several months, we have adapted on the fly, out of necessity. This year, adapting will be more mindful, more proactive, and will hopefully bring even more new unexpected and unforeseen positive experiences.