Why I’ve resolved not to make a New Year’s resolution this year

During the pandemic it’s been so easy to list the problems of the world. We watched as wealthy nations sought to protect their own populations, ignoring the experts chanting on the sideline: “no one is safe unless everyone is safe.”

Then Omicron came along and, what a surprise, the experts were proved spectacularly and lamentably correct.

Then there were politicians and pundits, in every country, who realised they could advance their own interests by encouraging vaccine hesitancy. People would die because of their actions, but they did it anyway.

When you think of these things, you find yourself falling into a deep well of despair. That’s why, today at least, I plan to climb towards the sunlight.

And so I count my blessings. Will you join me?

First, the scientists who gave us the vaccines we needed to fight the battle. However foolish humanity can sometimes be, we also have our moments of brilliance as a species. This was one of them. Then there were the nine-out-of-ten Australian adults who quietly lined up to get their jabs. We didn’t make as much noise as the protesters, but we were the many and they were the few.

Next, the nurses, doctors, teachers who took on their extra burdens.

Then the supermarket and hospitality staff who wore masks for each eight-hour shift and still managed to be upbeat.

Plus the work colleagues who got tested and self-isolated at the merest sniffle, protecting the rest of us.

Then the truck drivers, police officers, the thoughtful friends, the kids who wrote cards for isolated neighbours.

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The sunshine, once you look for it, has been more widespread than the clouds – even in this time of the pandemic. And, of course, once you start counting your blessings it’s hard to stop.

After the beach, I might try the park. There’s a stand of deciduous trees along one fence-line: trees that grow leaves in summer, when you need some shade from the sun; and then lose them in winter, just when you want the sun to come filtering through. Ain’t nature grand?

It reminds me of the way snow falls on mountains, which just happen to be perfectly shaped for skiing. Or the way, just when you develop age spots and wrinkles – I have some now – you become too blind to see yourself in the mirror.

Or the way your child or grandchild just happens to be the most beautiful child ever born. Now there’s a bit of luck.

A prawn sandwich on white bread. A cold beer on a hot day. Finding common purpose with your follow citizens in staring down a pandemic.

The year ahead will bring more troubles, of course it will, but even in tough times there are pleasures for the taking. It just helps if you look for them.

Here’s to a happier new year.

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