From the community of practitioners in the field of monitoring and evaluation, there is a practice in many organizations at the end of every year, to take stock of achievements registered, lessons learned and areas for improvement going forward. This practice is also applicable to all of us as individuals more so in this time as we reflect on the end of the unprecedented year 2020 and prepare to enter into the New Year. In doing this, two scenarios from one bible character called Jacob will greatly help us given his life experience. First, Genesis 47:8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, how old are you? Verse 9 Jacob answered, “My life of wandering has lasted 130 years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings”. Here, Jacob had been asked a simple quantitative question, how old he was. He first rightly answered the question (130 years) but due to the pain he had gone through, he delves into the quality of life he had lived by adding that 130 years were few but full of misery. The first lesson we pick here is that when one focuses on the negatives in life, it is easy to miss the good side. Its true 130 years were few in comparison to those lived by his ancestors but little did he know that at one point, these same years would be celebrated as longevity by a given generation, like ours today. That is, what compounds our frustrations is sometimes not what we are lacking but comparison of what we have versus what others have. The year 2020 has been tough globally, in certain parts of East Africa for instance, some people encountered floods, locusts and then the COVID 19 pandemic. At individual level, many people have lost jobs, contracted the CORONA virus or lost their loved ones. To some, dreams have been shuttered and are in despair. Some resigned from their jobs to go into self-employment only to be hit by total lockdown as Countries tried to control the spread of the CORONA virus and thus their resources vanished in such an unimaginable way. Like Jacob, it is human to be absorbed by negative circumstances in our lives and forget the positives that should energize us to confront the future. For instance, by the mere fact that you and I are still alive does not mean that it’s because we have the strongest immune system nor have the most resources but rather God’s providence. Interestingly, in the second scenario when Jacob was blessing his grandsons, we see a different perspective to evaluating life that we ought to emulate. Genesis 48:15 “May the God whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac served bless these boys (Ephraim and Manasseh), may God who has led me to this very day bless them”. Jacob asserts that it is God that fed him and was his shepherd all the days of his life and that through it all (just like us), his survival relied on God. As we usher in the New Year with specific plans and aspirations ranging from career development to investments among others, my humble plea is that at an individual level, each of us should adopt a “NEW START” in our lifestyle. That is; N: Nutrition (What we eat, when we eat it and how we eat it) E: Exercise (Regular) W: Water (Drinking) S: Sunlight T: Temperance A: Air R: Rest T: Trusting God This philosophy (of which am not the author) has been promoted by many counsellors for years to promote better and healthy lifestyle but never has it been justified like during this time of treating COVID 19 patients. For the last but important aspect of Trusting God in the above acronym, the Quran provides two important verses that confirm this notion; that is, Surat 1:2 (FAATIHAH) Praise be to Allah the sustainer of the World and Surat 51:58 (ZARIYAAT), for Allah is he who gives all sustenance- the Lord of power, steadfast fore ever. It is this realization that will give us the optimism that the Lord that has sustained us in 2020 will lead us still. It’s true we don’t know what the New Year holds for us but on the above premise, Ellen G White makes an encouraging declaration that we have nothing to fear for the future except we forget the way the Lord has led us in the past. Therefore, no matter what you have encountered this year, thank God for the life, gather the momentum, embrace a NEW START to lifestyle and press on with hope and determination as you journey through to your dreams and destiny. I wish you all a better and more fruitful year ahead. The author is a Social Commentator.
