As the heading of this entry confirms, that is how it was to a certain extent for me and my family. As we say farewell to the last day of 2021 for ever, and welcome 2022, one cannot help but think back on the past year.
Yes I know, I sound like an old lady and an LP that is stuck (all at the same time) when I say “Thís year went by QUICKLY.” But, man-o-man, it did go by QUICKLY did it not?
It feels like yesterday that I worked my shoulder into spasm, preparing the kitchen cabinets for painting (that is still not finished by the way, because the absolute desire to paint and do some home reno has not yet overwhelmed me). But, that was last December……..December 2020….
I cannot say that I will be greeting 2021 “until we meet again”. No. It is So Long, Farewell. Cheers. Koebaai. Overs-ke-dovers. Over and out. I am sure you understand what I mean. 2021 is over FOREVER. What a scary thought. But it is what it is.
2021 the year we get things done as I had proclaimed it. Indeed it was like that and also not. New things that crossed my path, like this blog. The Beroepsvrou business that started out of nothing and unplanned.
Yes, the kitchen is still not finished, all the cupboards in my house are waiting anxiously for me to work through them and create order. So I can go on and on about everything that has not happened during 2021.
Why not? Because everything that did happen, took time! And the other time that I had available, I tried (I emphasize this for a reason as it feels to me that I fail at this often) to rest and spend time with my family.
Back to my other statement that I utter often – the one about HOW quickly time flies. I have been thinking about this for YEARS and I think I have it. When you are young, time goes by relatively slowly. You don’t have kids and have very little or no responsibilities.
But then, you have to wee-wee on a stick that produces two little lines and breaks the news. You hear the sound of an LP that is stopped abruptly and tires screeching as the car that you were in, going nowhere slowly, makes a U-turn at 180 miles per hour.
Then it is as if someone bashes on the watch hard and continuously that makes the time go by EVEN faster…..suddenly it is 13 years since you were pregnant with your eldest child and not only a few months. Suddenly you realise the milestones that your baby makes and reaches (even if it felt like forever to get them to the age of 4 or 5 where they function a bit more independently).
Suddenly things just happen and if you do not have your safety belt on, then this thing called time throws you out of the car in a similar way that a Crash Test Dummy without a safety belt on is thrown out a vehicle upon impact.
In the process one (hopefully) becomes wiser. Older and wiser. In Afrikaans we have a saying Wysheid met die grysheid which means that as you age and your hair turns grey, you gain more knowledge. Literally. My husband was very surprised and amazed at the same time the other day when he observed himself in the mirror. “Look how grey my hair has become!” he probably said more to himself than to me.
On the last day of the year I am trying to catch up on my tax training hours, marking school stationery for 2022 in between (because my daughter wants to do it NOW). It is hard, the motivation is pretty much zero. The holiday is shouting and screaming my name, so loudly that I struggle to focus to get this over and done with.
At least I managed to resolve some things for 2022 at the end of this year – the kids’ school things. Stationery and clothes. It already feels to me as if 2022 is trying to infiltrate 2021, pushing and bumping like a buffalo to get the old year out the way.
As I observe everything and try to process everything, I know that everything, even time, is in God’s hands. He wants the best for us. Plans of prosperity and not of hardship.
Here is to 2022! May the year ahead move at a glacial pace rather than the speed of light, giving us all time to gather ourselves after surviving the Pandemic. Just yesterday I was thinking – everyone that is still on earth can say that they have survived a world-wide Pandemic. Wow.
May 2022 be filled with prosperity and favour for everyone. May it be the year that the Pandemic stops just as suddenly as it started. May God hold us (and time) in His hand. May we just move closer and closer to Him daily and may our relationship with Him grow stronger.
So long and farewell 2021 and Hello 2022! I look forward to welcome you with open arms into my life…..
“2021 – The Year we get things done”
