Most of the world has just gone through the whirlwind that is the holiday season. For many, it is a time of mixed emotions coupled with numerous parties, community events, spiritual centering, and time with family. At the very end of the holiday season comes a time of particular celebration and self reflection, the New Year.
In many ways, the New Year is not simply a day on the calendar. Instead, it is a time of anticipation that usually starts immediately after Christmas. People start making New Year’s resolutions and or imagining all of the good things that the coming year has the potential to bring. The same holds true for people with disabilities.
It is important to note that the feeling of possibilities that comes with the New year does not cancel out every day problems. At the beginning of every new year, virtually everyone has something they are concerned about. These concerns are unique to every person and can vary from relationships to finances to employment to health and several other factors. For people with disabilities, these concerns are often compounded due to difficulty with gaining assistance needed to thrive in the above mentioned areas.
Still, even while experiencing such difficulties, this author has always found a reason for hope in the New Year, both through personal experience and observations of others.
For a personal example, this year has already brought opportunities that this author was not aware of at the beginning of the previous New Year. These opportunities have the ability to have lasting positive impacts on others as well as this author. These topics will be discussed in further detail in future blogs. In regard to examples of hope through observation, the ongoing fires in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas have shown that the feeling of excitement that comes with a New Year can easily be turned into sorrow. The lives of people from all walks of life have been either cut short or forever altered in ways that this author does not and will not pretend to understand. Yet, through rescue volunteers, donations, and acts as well as words of kindness and encouragement, it has been proven that hope can exist even in the midst of unimaginable circumstances.
At this point, there is often a lead in as to what the next blog segment will cover. Due to the recent occurrences mentioned above, however, this author intends to take a few weeks to observe and reflect before deciding on the topic for the next blog segment. That said, there will be a blog segment for February, so please remember to enjoy the previous segments until then and I am excited to see how the next segment will develop.