We are moving toward the Christmas market and ready to leave the year behind. We have reached our annual goals or transferred them to the next year’s editorial calendar.
It’s easy to sit back, take stock of the year and start planning for Auld Lang Syne.
But 2020 has presented a special challenge — the need for daily monitoring and hope searching. We cannot truly relax because this horrid pandemic is still with us, taking lives and disrupting our culture.
It’s time to take a lesson from football.
Although every moment of a football game can be filled with excitement or the dread of rising penalties, it is the fourth quarter — the Q4 — that holds the most promise. Yet those last 15 minutes are when legs start to throb, arms ache and the multiple tackles begin to take their toll.
It takes more grit and strength, more energy and chugs of Gatorade to score in the fourth quarter, to come from behind and win.
This Q4 of 2020 will require even more courage as we begin the winter months. We’ll be cooped up with each other while snow whitens the landscape, washing our masks and wishing 2020 was a distant memory.
COVID-19 was supposed to be under control by now. The perfect vaccine a reality. The economy responding to opened businesses. Yeah, right.
Yet the news is often bleak, the numbers of dead rising and the need for extra strength more important than other quarters of this year.
How can we face this Q4 and make it to December 31?
Stock up on Resources. Not just TP, but also books and movies that enrich thoughts and build warm fuzzies. Find winter-based projects the entire family can enjoy together:
- Start a puzzle
- Try a new recipe
- Write a poem
- Do something creative
- Watch the old sitcoms and laugh
Dig Deep. Find that courageous reserve that asks for extra grit to churn out the final seconds of Q4 2020. Fill your fridge magnets with positive quotes and affirmations. Memorize a hope-filled quote or scripture.
One of my favorites is Isaiah 43:2, “You will pass through deep waters, but God will be with you.”
Move Away from Yourself. Find a way to bless someone else: a greeting card, a bouquet of chocolate chip cookies, flowers left on the porch, a phone call, more chocolate.
How about this quote by H. Jackson Brown, Jr., “Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.”
Even if we feel the opponent has won, Q4 isn’t over yet. We CAN finish well.
We can build up our hope by encouraging each other and cheering for one another until the final buzzer sounds. In the midst of this Q4, we can go for the win.
©2020 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved
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This is so encouraging. Thank you. We will make it.
Thanks for the comment. Yes indeed – we will make it !